Hargreaves shares tumble on business growth fears

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

The group reported record underlying profits of £72m in the second half of 2011 in today's update, while revenues climbed 16% to £112.9m. However, total net business inflows fell to £1.16bn, down 13%, and by mid-morning shares were selling-off. By 8:51am, shares were down 3.3% or 15p, to 445p, making them the top faller on the FTSE 100. Meanwhile the FTSE was up 0.3% to 5,898.5. Hargreaves' share price has tumbled over the past year, after previously hitting a high of 646.5p before the summer market sell off. It remains near the low point of 404.4p which it fell to last August, ...