LPL earnings spiked in second quarter

LPL Investment Holdings Inc. saw an 8.9% increase in its second-quarter profits, mostly on the back of cost cutting and the recent improvements in market conditions. In the earnings report it released Tuesday, Boston-based LPL Investment Holdings, the largest network of independent broker-dealers, said net income was $15.6 million for the quarter that ended in June, compared with $14.3 million for the same quarter one year earlier. For the first six months of the year, net income was $30.4 million, an increase of 17% from the first six months of 2008. “The S&P 500 experienced a modest recovery during the three months ended June 30, 2009, to reach levels comparable with those seen toward the end of 2008,” the firm said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Such gains provided retail investors with the first market-driven improvement in their asset and account balances since the second quarter of 2008.” Revenues from commissions and advisory fees were down for the quarter, 16.7% and 22.9%, respectively, when compared with the same period in 2008. Total revenues dropped 17.9%, to $669 million. The firm is also cutting expenses, and, like many financial services firms, recently laid off workers. The firm reduced total expenses by 18.8% during the second quarter, to $611 million.