* Hargreaves AUA, inflows rise
* But company starting to see dealing volumes ease
* Total active clients reach 1.6 million
(Adds details from statement, Brewin results)
May 13 (Reuters) - Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown
has started to see a fall in share dealing volumes as
pandemic curbs ease, it said on Thursday, after record retail
trading at the start of the year.
Britain's biggest fund supermarket said revenue for the four
months to the end of April jumped to 233.2 million pounds
($327.6 million) from 190.2 million pounds, citing strong
trading in international equities, particularly U.S. stocks.
The UK-listed company, which won 126,000 new clients over
the four months, lifting its total active clients to 1.6
million, said assets under administration reached 132.9 billion
pounds in that period, up from 120.6 billion pounds.
"Conditions look more positive than they did at the end of
December," Hargreaves Chief Executive Chris Hill said.
Also on Thursday, wealth manager Brewin Dolphin
reported an 11% jump in total funds to 52.6 billion pounds,
saying total discretionary fund inflows in the first three
months of 2021 were at a record 1 billion pounds.
However, Hargreaves said in its trading update that similar
to when previous lockdowns have been lifted, it has begun to see
a reduction in share dealing volumes in UK and overseas trades.
On Wednesday TP ICAP, the world's largest
interdealer broker, said trading activity had returned to normal
levels in April as it reported a 9% fall in first-quarter
revenue.
Hargreaves said its growing client base, easy-to-use
platform and the breadth of equities available made it confident
that dealing volumes will be higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The company said costs related to having managed such high
trading volumes earlier in the year and the spike in new clients
and marketing will flow into the second half of its fiscal year.
"What we have are elevated levels of trading revenue paying
for onboarding costs of client relationships which will last for
decades. We view this as underpinning its investment case and
retain our Buy recommendation," Panmure Gordon analysts wrote.
Hargreaves shares were down 5% by 0756 GMT, while the wider
market was 2% lower on inflation worries.
($1 = 0.7119 pounds)
(Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips and Elaine Hardcastle)