Hargreaves Lansdown Share Discussion Threads

[technet] 29/5/2007 10:20

Out of mine now. Will see if the price pulls back and may get in again but there are other things I would rather be doing with my cash right now.

[finerpoint] 29/5/2007 02:37

CCNP

I agree but 140/145p is talked about in the city I fear!

[ccnp] 28/5/2007 22:08

euphoria almost over. mortgage interest biting. 180p a fair price in a prosperous market but who knows rights now. it will take a few months but a sensible price can be had for them.

[bobp] 25/5/2007 21:09

Folks,
Don't hold, but, think about it...
How is this company going to make any more than it is?
Bearing in mind that a market downturn is on the cusp and people just aint gonna invest!!
Day trade etc yes, but buy ISAs?...

[ollie6] 21/5/2007 12:13

ABOUT 2.5 M HAVE BEEN TRADED TODAY,I WAS ALLOTTED 5,000 AND SOLD HALF EARLIER THIS MORNING

[mintpenguin] 21/5/2007 12:01

can anyone see the size of the sales going through.

[technet] 21/5/2007 10:47

was there bad press over the weekend?

[ccnp] 21/5/2007 10:17

you dont think any of the w/e comment suggests a reason for a fall ? or even quite a big drop ?

Hhhhmmmm.

[technet] 21/5/2007 10:15

No reasons I can see for the fall today. May top up soon to get back to the allocation I originally wanted.

[tadtech] 20/5/2007 21:03

Sorry it could be taken that way. But I was trying to compare ratings across the sector. As another comparison both Charles Stanley and Walker Crips are selling at forward ratings of 17 currently.

Whilst HL are a different business model in many ways their current rating does suggest some profit taking could occur as suggested by the press today. I do feel however that on much of a pullback buyers will be eager for these shares.

[spangle93] 20/5/2007 20:59

Tadtech - that looks suspicious like a ramp for another share. However, I hope you're right, since I bought into HICH at around 250p not very long ago.

I'm only a small time punter, and not very good at picking stocks :-( As my H-L allocation turned out to be much larger than my usual initial stake in a stock, I sold just over half on Friday morning to reduce risk, and intend to hold the remainder for the medium to long term, as I do believe this company has a good reputation, good growth potential, and good products.

Good luck to all holders (including me!!)

[tadtech] 20/5/2007 20:47

Odd how you get such huge variances in SP's across the same sector. I was reading the IPO for HL and they suggested it was expensive on floatation, some 21 times forward earnings. When it soured another 30% I was quite amazed.

I have been holding Hitchins Harrison (HICH) and commented about HL's floatation on their thread. HICH are selling at a forward PE of around 12, some 5 points below the sector average despite strong growth (156%) and overseas expansion. The shares look very cheap despite recent rises.

There was also comment in the FT re a Mid East investor building a stake and further positive press in Shares Mag on Thursday (Shares to fly)

Could be worth a look IMO.

[spangle93] 20/5/2007 20:32

Sounds worrying like a management warning!!!


The Questor Column, Daily Telegraph
By Josephine Moulds
Last Updated: 1:25am BST 19/05/2007



Hargreaves' stunning first day leaves shares too expensive

It is not often that chief executives say their shares are too expensive. But Peter Hargreaves of financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown is clearly an exception, greeting me with the words, "You're not going to tip my shares at this price, are you?"

His refreshing attitude may be down to an extended absence from the public markets. Although he worked for some listed companies in a former life, Hargreaves co-founded Hargreaves Lansdown with Stephen (you guessed it) Lansdown in 1981 and has nurtured the business as a private company until its flotation this week.

The shares, priced at 160p, are already at the high end of the range and jumped a staggering 31pc on their first day of trading. At the time of going to press, they were trading on a price/earnings multiple of something like 27 times next year's earnings, dropping to 26 times 2009 forecast earnings.

Not content with his opening gambit, Hargreaves continues: "These [price/earnings] levels, we certainly feel that we will have to work very hard to warrant them. I am appreciative of how people have driven the price up, I just hope we can deliver." But despite a chief executive determined to talk down the value of his company, it is worth looking at what it is that has got everyone quite so excited.

Hargreaves Lansdown is not quite a fund manager but rather a platform for a selection of investments, particularly unit trusts, with very high-quality customer service for its private clients. But unlike a fund of funds it does not charge a second layer of fees from investors. Instead, the unit trust groups share their annual management charge with Hargreaves Lansdown, which typically takes a fee of 0.5pc.

This means that the revenue stream is less susceptible to changing fashions for different kinds of funds, because if one falls out of favour investors can move their money into another. More than three quarters of the assets under management are in tax wrappers (such as personal equity plans (Peps), individual savings accounts (Isas) and self-invested personal pensions (Sipps), which people are less likely to sell.

However, the company would be hit by a downturn in the equity markets as some investors would withdraw, reducing fees coming in. The platform houses very traditional, long-only funds. Hargreaves expects that one day clients will want more hedge-fund-like investments. The beauty of the model is that it can add them when they see that demand is there.

Sipps are key to growth, as is a growing interest in the platform model Hargreaves Lansdown offers. UK platforms currently hold an estimated £50bn of assets under management, or just 4pc of the potential £1,200bn market.

Hargreaves Lansdown has grown revenues by 20pc a year since 1996 and adjusted earnings by around 29pc a year, compared with 5pc annual growth in UK equities. And it is clearly a solid investment case, but the shares are just too expensive at these levels.

If you managed to get your hands on any. . . HOLD.

[ccnp] 20/5/2007 09:10

Weekend comment concensus is that HL are too expensive to merit buying. Which is exactly what Meesrs Hargreaves and Lansdowne needed. They never strike me as greedy and I expect they can get by on a few 10s of millions equity release. A very shrewd move after building a business from absolute scratch. Congratulations to both of them.

[garycook] 18/5/2007 15:29

Thanks njl53.Purchased some more shares today.

[branca] 18/5/2007 10:52

A few big buys gone through

[njl53] 17/5/2007 18:56

WI stands for 'when issued' - it will not appear from Friday morning when they will be officially issued and listed. It is a technical term meaning the shares could fail to get full official approval for their listing. Sipps, isas etc cannot buy shares which are WI - also known as the grey market.

[garycook] 17/5/2007 18:48

What does the(WI)after Hargreaves stand for,anyone know?

[nicky name] 17/5/2007 18:45

Difficult for the institutions. HL should go into FTSE 250 but the founders still control the company. The institutions have to buy the shares but might not be happy with their potential lack influence. I think it will be hard for the founders to cede overall control of their 'baby' It will be interesting to see if they do over the next few years.

I suspect it could be some time before non-connected persons and institutions control this company. Messrs Hargreaves and Lansdown have guided the company very successfully so far, so let's hope that continues. But forget any takeover premium for a few years!

[mintpenguin] 17/5/2007 10:44

short = Burnt pants!

[petwood] 17/5/2007 08:48

petralva.

Considering the offer was for only 118,579,725 shares, the others still being held by PH and SL, in a company holding £8.3 billion of clients assets, with a turnover of £73.5 million and profit of £24.3m to last June 30th, I wouldn't say it was overvalued.

[petralva] 17/5/2007 05:35

shares in issue 474,318,625 mkt cap approaching 1bn!
overvalued i'm on £10 a point with city index!
will close at £1.95..........

[t1lal] 16/5/2007 23:55

BF2

Shares mate, Shares.

AJMACE

Luckily I did apply for 20k, but I have to admitt that I was nervous as to the reaction for the IPO and the opening price looking at the figures.

I bet PH and SL were a 'little' peeved with the price the company floated at as judging by the demand for shares they could have floated it at around 1.80+.

[ianbrewster] 16/5/2007 19:46

Blueflex - if you asked for £5000 worth of shares, then you actually got 1400 shares @ 160p