HARGREAVES Lansdown topped the City's profit predictions for the year despite "challenging" market conditions triggering a sharp fall in the amount of cash flowing into its platform over the past 12 months.

In its full year results, released yesterday, the UK's biggest DIY investment and savings firm said pre-tax profits had rocketed over 50 per cent to £402.1m in the 12 months to the end of June even as net new business flows tumbled.

Cash flowing onto the platform fell 13 per cent to £4.8bn, down from £5.5bn last year. Assets under management ticked up eight per cent to £134bn despite the slowdown, however, as market conditions improved.

Analysts had been pricing in profits of £379.4m for the full year.

The full-year numbers mark the first results following the takeover of new chief Dan Olley in August.

In a statement, Olley said it was a "robust financial performance for our full year in what continues to be a challenging broader economic environment," with customers pouring into the firm's saving products rather than investing.

"Markets have been volatile and with interest rates rising, savers have looked to make their cash work harder for them without always wanting to invest." The firm's Active Savings cash platform attracted record new business of £3.2bn in the year.

Hargreaves Lansdown was among a host of retail firms to make hay as investors poured onto the platforms through lockdowns. However, growth across the sector has since slowed as investors reined in spending and investment as prices surged over the past year,

Olley's predecessor Chris Hill stepped down after seven years in charge amid a series of high-profile run-ins with founder Peter Hargreaves, who attacked the firm's digitisation strategy and swelling cost base.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper