Hargreaves Lansdown posts higher Q1 revenues, assets

LONDON (Reuters) - British fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown <HRGV.L> said on Thursday it took in 800 million pounds of net new business in the quarter to Sept. 30, despite what it described as weakening investor sentiment arising from COVID-19 and fresh Brexit uncertainty.

It added 31,00 net new clients over the period, taking active client numbers to 1.44 million, while assets under administration rose 3% to 106.9 billion pounds, thanks in part to a positive market movement of 2.1 billion pounds, the company said.

Quarterly revenue rose 12% to 143.7 million pounds.

Hargreaves, the UK's largest direct to investor investment service, said flows into its Active Savings product were hampered by the market leading rates on offer from the government backed NS&I.

But cuts to those rates in September has triggered a "marked impact" on flows back into Hargreaves' offering. The Bristol, UK-based group had welcomed a record 188,000 net new clients by the end of June this year on the back of strong trading during the global health crisis.

"These results are against the ongoing backdrop of market uncertainty and highlight the resilience of our business model and client proposition," Chief Executive Chris Hill said.

(Reporting By Sinead Cruise, editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)