FX trading contribute less than 5% of XTB’s Q1 revenue
Poland-based broker XTB has reported its financial results for Q1 2023 ending March 31, 2023. The report showed improved metrics after seeing revenues and customer numbers double in 2022 in one of its most successful corporate years.
In the three months to March 31, XRB revenue was reported at a record of PLN 531 million ($128 million), up 21 percent from PLN 440 million ($98 million) in the same period a year ago. On a quarter-over-quarter scale, the figure also more than doubled from PLN 216 million ($49 million) in the Q4 2022.
Also, XTB saw its operating expenses rise in the first quarter after reporting a figure of PLN 184 million ($44 million) – this was up 40 percent year-over-year from PLN 131 million ($29 million) in the comparable period of 2022.
In terms of its operating income, the listed broker disclosed a net profit of PLN 303 million ($73 million), which was six times higher than the PLN 49.9 million it earned in Q4 2022. Taking a year-over-year perspective, XTB’s core profit also saw a 20 percent rise from PLN 252.6 million ($56.6 million) in the three months through March 2023.
Finally, XTB registered an increasing number of active accounts with 215,700 as of the first quarter, growing from 149,700 in Q1 of 2022, or 44 percent on a yearly basis. Additionally, new accounts were on the uptick, increasing year-over-year to 104,200 in the quarter just ended, up 88 percent relative to 55,300 accounts in 2022.
XTB expects its marketing strategy to yield more clients in the year ahead, referring to its board’s ambition to acquire, on average, at least 40-60 thousand new clients per quarter.
The Polish brokerage firm, like rivals, saw trading volumes skyrocket in 2022 as retail traders tried to take advantage of swings in the financial markets brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war.
XTB said its operating revenues were primarily influenced by a growing client base combined with their solid trading activity in the commodity markets. Specifically, CFDs trading volumes spiked to 1.84 million lots compared to 1.56 million in the first quarter 2022, while profitability per lot amounted to PLN 288 from PLN 282 a year ago.
“Thanks to the cooperation with such personalities as Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Conor McGregor, Jiří Procházka or Iker Casillas, XTB started promoting the offered investment solutions, in particular, convincing that investing in various types of assets is available to everyone, using the tools provided that facilitate entry into the world of investments: through daily market analysis, as well as numerous educational materials,” the report further states.
XTB explained that the commodity CFDs segment generated 49 percent of the company’s total revenue. This figure ticked higher as compared to 30 percent a year earlier. As explained, this was a consequence of high profitability on CFD instruments based on natural gas and gold.
The second most profitable class of assets was indices CFDs, which saw their share in total revenues amounting to 45 percent. Meanwhile, FX CFDs generated less than 4.2 percent of XTB’s total revenues.
