With the FTSE 100 hitting all-time highs and posting a second consecutive month of gains in April, it looks like investment firms have been reaping the rewards.
Hargreaves Lansdown issued a strong quarterly trading update highlighting good momentum throughout the Isa season into the new financial year.
The investment platform reported net client inflows of £1.6bn, well above the consensus forecast of £1.4bn.
Hargreaves Lansdown reported net client growth of 34,000 in the March quarter, up from 23,000 a year earlier, while share trading volumes averaged 794,000 a month, up from 672,000 in the three months to December 2023.
Assets under management rose 5.3 per cent to a record £149.7bn as at March 31, up from £132bn a year earlier.
New clients: Hargreaves Lansdown reported net client growth of 34,000 in the March quarter, up from 23,000 a year earlier, while share trading volumes averaged 794,000 per month.
The good news was that Hargreaves Lansdown shares rose 3.6 per cent, or 28.2p, to 813.8p.
But not all the financial news was well received.
FTSE 100-listed wealth manager St James’s Place lost 2.1 per cent, or 9.2p, to 435.6p as its net flows were slightly below consensus, although Client funds under management rose to £179 billion from £168.2 billion at the end of December. .
Insurer Prudential was among blue-chip stocks to fall, falling 5.5 per cent, or 40.4 pence, to 701 pence, after its results showed falling sales at its joint venture in China continental in the first quarter.
Pru also failed to complete the share buyback that many investors had hoped for.
At the end of a positive month, the FTSE 100 index yesterday fell 0.04 per cent, or 2.9 points, to 8,144.13, after earlier reaching another intraday high just below the 8,200 level at 8,199.95.
Stock Watch – IG Design Group
IG Design Group jumped almost 30 percent after a strong full-year trading update that forecast significant growth in profits and margins.
The stationery products maker expects to report full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £20.7m, well above the £7.4m delivered in 2023.
Financial performance in the current year has exceeded expectations, the company stated.
The shares soared 29.6 per cent, or 36p, to 157.5p.
The FTSE 250 also performed well in April, but fell in the final session of the month, falling 0.6 per cent, or 119.4 points, to 19965.39.
Coca-Cola drinks bottler HBC was among those rising on the FTSE 100, rising 0.5 per cent, or 14p, to 2,590p, thanks to strong quarterly figures, and management reiterated its guidance for everything year.
And Howden Joinery added 0.4 per cent, or 3.5p, to 876p, as the commercial kitchen and joinery supplier reported a rise in deposit income in the first quarter and hailed an “encouraging” start to the year “.
Among other FTSE 250 gainers, industrial valve manufacturing company Rotork rose 2.3 per cent, or 7.4p, to 323.4p after a first quarter trading update showed growth in inflows. orders in the low single digits, which was positive compared to the previous year.
Utility Telecom Plus added 1.3 per cent, or 22 pence, to 1,736 pence, as it said its full-year adjusted pre-tax profit would be at the top end of market expectations after a record year.
But Metro Bank lost 4 per cent, or 1.4 pence, to 33.3 pence, as the challenger bank saw its total loans fall 9 per cent year-on-year to £11.8 billion, although deposits rose 4 per cent. percent in the first quarter.
Construction merchant Travis Perkins fell 1.1 per cent, or 8.5p, to 753p following news that its chairman Jasmine Whitbread will resign at the end of the month, weeks after chief executive Nick Roberts resigned.