Plus500 profits soar as bosses hike full year guidance
London-listed fintech Plus500 said it was expecting annual revenues and profits to sail past market estimates today after a bumper period in the first half of the year boosted by market volatility.
In a trading update today on the six months to June, the Israeli-headquartered tading platform said that revenue rose 48 per cent on last year to $511.4m, while EBITDA was up 63 per cent to $305.3m. Profits in the second quarter alone jumped 118 per cent on the same period last year to $143.7m.
Boss David Zruia said today the firm had “continued to outperform” in the first half of this year, supported by “market-leading proprietary technology” and was now gearing up for growth.
“We made significant progress in delivering against our strategic priorities, in particular the major growth opportunities in the US, where we continue to make substantial investment,” he added.
Shares in the firm jumped beyond five per cent this morning before settling to trade up 1.59 per cent.
The surge in revenues at Plus500 come after trading platforms have been boosted by a surge in retail activity since the start of the pandemic, with the volatility sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delivering another spike in trading this year.
Plus500 said it had onboarded 57,275 new customers during the half, down from 136,980 in the same period a year earlier, but had been boosted by higher value customers and better retention.
Analysts expect the company to report an annual revenue of $665.6m and core profit of $317.5m, according to company-compiled market consensus data.
Brokers at Liberum reiterated their ‘buy’ rating today and said Plus500 had delivered “another excellent quarter”.