Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown shares fell sharply in morning trading as investors looked past record profits to focus on slowing business growth.

Hargreaves Lansdown today said it delivered record underlying profits of £72m in the second half of last year.

A brace of broker downgrades released today has knocked London's leading share index off its six-month high.

Hargreaves Lansdown shares fell nearly 3% this morning, following an RBS downgrade from 'hold' to 'sell'.

Hargreaves Lansdown plans to charge investors who hold certain tracker funds on its Vantage platform a flat fee of up to £2 per month, compared to the current annual rate of 0.5%.

Savers must grab the opportunity to save when the ISA limit increases by £600 in the next tax year, Danny Cox, head of advice at Hargreaves Lansdown said.

Hargreaves Lansdown saw net new business inflows rise by almost a quarter in the three months to September but said a fall in its assets under management was caused by stock market movements.

UK managers including Lindsell Train founder Nick Train have labelled Hargreaves Lansdown a "definite buy" with enormous growth potential, after the group beat analysts' expectations last week.

Broker Numis Securities has upgraded Hargreaves Lansdown from 'hold' to 'add' after the group reported a significant hike in profits in its annual results this morning.

(Update) Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown jumped 15% in early trading after the company reported a significant jump in profits and hiked its dividend.