Results round-up

Investment management firm Hargreaves Lansdown reported a jump in full-year profit as assets under administration grew and the company announced that its chief executive Ian Gorham was stepping down.

In its preliminary results for the year to the end of June, Hargreaves said pre-tax profit pushed up 10% to a record £218.9m as asset under administration rose 12% to £61.7bn. Net revenue rose to £326.5m from £294.2m.

Hargreaves said high client satisfaction drove strong client recruitment and retention, with associated additional fees and income.

In addition, it said client equity trading volumes during the year were considerably higher, up 9% from 2015 at 3.7m, driven by speculation and volatility around the EU referendum, with a record 63,000 trades conducted on 24 June 2016. This additional trading drove higher stockbroking commission.

Meanwhile, the number of active clients increased 100,000 in the year to 836,000 and the group lifted its total dividend by 3% to 34p per share.

The company said that while the long-term implications of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union are unknown, it remains confident about the future and considers its business to be robust.

Housebuilder and property developer Barratt Developments posted its annual results for the year to 30 June on Wednesday, with total completions rising 5.3% to 17,319.

The FTSE 100 firm reported revenue of £4.24bn, up 12.7%, with profit from operations growing 15.9% to £668.4m.

Its operating margin improved by 0.5 percentage points to 15.8%, with a profit before tax up 20.7% to £682.3m and basic earnings per share rising 21.1% over the prior year to 55.1p.

Barratt’s private average selling price rose 10.4% to £289,000, which the board said predominantly reflected mix.

“The strong operational and financial performance in FY16 reinforces the progress we have made over the last few years as does our disciplined volume growth,” said Barratt chief executive David Thomas.

“This was underpinned by our fast asset turn model and our industry leading customer service and construction excellence.”

Over the 12 months, Barratt enjoyed a 27.1% return on capital employed, up 3.2 percentage points, with net cash at period end of £592m, an improvement of £405.5m.

Looking at the current year, the firm’s board said it has made a positive start, with net private reservations per active outlet per week from 1 July of 0.75, against 0.71 a year ago.

Total forward sales, including joint ventures, were up 4.1% year-on-year at £2.42bn as at 4 September.