Hargreaves Lansdown hit so many negatives in the year to the end of June that it is a wonder the profits held up as well as they did. As it was, an underlying increase of 15 per cent translated into a reported reduction, at the pre-tax level, of 5 per cent to £199 million.
The good news for investors is that most of the negatives are one-offs and the company should return to profit growth this year. The better news is that Hargreaves is positioned to take advantage of a market that can only continue to grow.
Of the one-offs, the need to cut charges to clients cost about £18.5 million. The general direction of the market is for these to fall, so it is