Hargreaves Lansdown's new chief Dan Olley was given a boost yesterday as the retail investment platform sailed past analyst estimates and posted a bumper 50 per cent boost in annual profits. Like a host of retail financial firms over the past year, Hargreaves has reaped the rewards of rising interest rates. The numbers may put a spring in the step of the new chief after he took over the reins of Britain's biggest retail investment firm from Chris Hill earlier this year.

But Olley's task may still be considered an unenviable one by some in the City. Hill's time at the top was punctuated by unhelpful headlines on a spat with founder and major shareholder Peter Hargreaves, who slammed the former chief over the firm's flagging share price and swelling cost base. Shares are trading down some 66 per cent below a 2019 peak. But analysts yesterday cheered the profits boost and "back to basics" approach from the firm. Barclays itself yesterday ramped up its guidance, due to a better revenue outlook and a more controlled cost base. One analyst, Neil Shah, head of research at Edison said: "New CEO, Dan Olley, is taking a pragmatic approach to steer the company toward capturing growth opportunities in the UK's wealth market." Ultimately though, time will tell if Olley does enough to keep the former founder off his case.

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