Shares
in
Hargreaves
Lansdown
(HL)
and
AJ
Bell
(AJB),
two
stalwarts
of
the
UK’s
retail
investor
platform
space,
are
both
surging
this
morning.
HL
saw
its
share
price
leap
more
than
15%
after
news
broke
that
the
FTSE
100-listed
Bristol
broker
had
rejected
a
takeover
bid
from
a
group
of
private
equity
firms,
including
CVC
Capital
Partners,
and
a
partner
group
of
Abu
Dhabi’s
sovereign
wealth
fund.
Its
valuation
shot
up
from
924.80p
on
22nd
of
May
to
1,125p
as
of
08:30
this
morning.
However,
shares
have
subsequently
fallen
and
now
sit
at
1,059.84p.
The
share
price
increase
over
the
last
five
days
sits
at
16.5%,
with
a
year-to-date
increase
of
31.02%,
according
to
Morningstar
Pitchbook
data.
On
Wednesday
evening,
HL
released
a
statement
stating
its
board
had
“unanimously
rejected”
a
takeover
proposal
of
985p
per
share
from
the
private
equity
group,
on
the
grounds
it
undervalued
the
business
significantly.
The
bid
continues
the
trend
of
private
equity
interest
in
not
only
UK
wealth
management
but
the
wider
UK
stock
market,
which
is
due
to
companies
across
the
board
trading
at
relative
discounts
to
their
global
peers.
HL
has
also
faced
challenges
in
recent
years.
Last
year
it
was
booted
out
of
the
FTSE
100,
although
it
subsequently
returned
to
the
blue-chip
index
on
another
share
price
jump.
Manchester-based
AJ
Bell,
meanwhile,
has
also
enjoyed
a
11.03%
share
price
leap
over
the
last
five
days
to
May
23
from
362p
to
403.50p.
Its
revenue
is
up
27%
year-on-year.
Revenues
at
the
business,
which
started
life
as
a
pensions
firm,
hit
a
whopping
£131.3
million
in
the
first
half
of
the
financial
year.
Meanwhile,
profits
before
tax
leapt 47%
to
£61.4
million.
Assets
under
administration
were
bolstered
13%
to
almost
£86
billion
due
to
heavy
inflows.
This
all
comes
as
the
platform
announced
an
increased
retail
customer
base,
with
the
number
of
policyholders
surpassing
half
a
million.
AJ
Bell’s
year-to-date
share
price
change
sits
at
a
14.07%
increase.
On
the
back
of
its
positive
results,
the
company
has
announced
an
interim
dividend
of
4.25p
per
share,
up
21%
from
last
year’s
figure.
“Our
dual-channel
platform
continued
to
deliver
strong
organic
growth
with
27,000
customers
added
in
the
period
and
total
platform
customers
surpassing
half
a
million,
a
significant
milestone
for
the
business,”
chief
executive
Michael
Summersgill
said.
“The
board
has
recently
approved
a
new
capital
allocation
framework
which
reaffirms
our
commitment
to
a
progressive
annual
ordinary
dividend.”
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