IForex shares lift after trading platform makes London Stock Exchange debut
Shares in iForex popped after the firm became the latest fintech to debut on the London Stock Exchange.
The stock rose as much as 6.4 per cent to 207.5p by the end of its inaugural trading session on Wednesday. It had floated on London’s main market at an offer price of 195p, implying a market capitalisation of £43.3m.
The float follows a period of intense activity for iForex, a currency trading platform, as savvy investors sought to take advantage of wild currency fluctuations sparked by shocks to global trade policy and geopolitical uncertainty.
iForex chief executive Itai Sadeh told Morning Wire: “Our company thrives in periods of volatility.
“Clients want to trade when prices are moving – if the prices are not moving, it’s kind of boring. They seek the thrill of the markets.
“Recently, markets have been extremely volatile. It’s interesting times and those interesting times bring in new clients, and existing clients trade more.”
Sadeh said the company, which is incorporated in Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, hopes to use its status as a listed company to attract more customers in Europe, in particular corporate clients who value the transparency of publicly traded companies.
“It’s a stepping stone towards increased brand awareness in the European market,” he said.
“Europe is a very challenging market – this market is very competitive, highly regulated, and clients are much more aware of the choices they have. So we believe that in order to compete better for attention of European clients, we need to be publicly traded.”
Founded in Israel in 1996, the company operates an online and mobile trading platform, enabling retail clients to trade CFDs across more than 870 financial instruments including currencies, commodities, indices, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs.
The fintech said it had distributed over $262m (£194m) to shareholders since 2014. For the year ended 31 December 2024, it reported trading income of $50m and pre-tax profit of $7.6m.