Stockbroker cheers profit hike

Thriftier Britons are looking for better returns on their savings with interest rates at record lows, helping the Bristol-based firm suck in a net 3.3bn in the year to June 30 - 65 per cent ahead of the previous year.

The group - which also benefited from a 38 per cent rise in the FTSE All-Share between July 2009 and last April - passed one million stockbroking deals for the year and attracted 48,000 customers to its Vantage fund "supermarket", taking total numbers to 330,000.

Peter Hargreaves steps down tomorrow as chief executive of the business he co-founded almost 30 years ago. He and fellow founder Stephen Lansdown - who retired as an executive director last week - own more than half the business.

Mr Hargreaves said revenues and profits had reached record levels, adding: "Although these measures have been helped by a rise in stock markets across the year, the more significant contribution has been from record organic growth."

The fund manager - which also cheered investors with an 18 per cent hike in dividend payments - said total assets under management had risen 47 per cent to 17.5bn. The lion's share of this was the 5.4bn increase in Vantage funds to 16.3bn.

Mr Hargreaves added: "The increase in the UK's savings ratio is a cause for optimism. Whilst this ratio has been mainly affected by people paying down debt, eventually some of those increased savings are likely to end up with us."

The chief executive was also slightly more cheerful over the outlook, saying that "the problems that we can foresee at the moment are less critical than the ones we envisaged a year ago".

Lower interest rates have dented the group's returns but comparisons will be more favourable in the year ahead with borrowing costs likely to remain at low levels, the firm said.