IG Group elevates Nicos Demetriades to head Cyprus business
IG Group, Europe’s largest online trading platform, has promoted Nicos Demetriades to take on an expanded role as head of its Cypriot arm Brightpool Ltd.
Demetriades has been with the FCA-regulated broker since 2019, based out of its offices in Limassol. He has spent nearly 3 years there and rose through the ranks with the firm, culminating with the position of managing director and Head of Cyprus at IG Group.
In his new role, Demetriades is tasked with leading the Cyprus office and will be responsible for all Brightpools commercial operations. He was previously Head of Finance, responsible for all financial and regulatory matters, tax, and company’s submissions and requirements. During this stint, Nicos also helped in establishing and run a successful CySEC licensing process, per Linkedin profile.
Prior to IG, Demetriades served as head of finance and risk manager at Purple Trading. This was preceded by a two-year tenure in an analogous role with Spot Capital Markets Ltd.
Britain’s biggest player in the spread betting sector, which has a 40 percent share of the market, has undergone several management changes over the last few months.
Most recently, IG parted ways with Bridget Messer, who held both CCO and executive director roles for the UK online trading specialist. She has already announced her intentions to step down back in June, citing family reasons.
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IG Group reports solid financial results
On the operational side, the UK online trading leader said high levels of trading activity among clients helped grow revenue 6 percent year-on-year during the third quarter. The revenue figure was reported at £227.5 million for the first quarter of the FY22.
Excluding one-off gains associated with the tastytrade acquisition, the adjusted net trading revenue was £221.7 million, higher from Q1 FY21’s figure of £209.0 million. On a quarterly scale, IG Group’s revenue also marked 3 percent increase from £214.1 million for the fourth quarter of FY21, and was also consistent with its previous guidance.
The FTSE 250-listed group said its performance was driven by the continued increased levels of trading activity from existing clients, as well as the growing new customers.
Out of these figure, tastytrade contributed £20.8 million in Q1 revenues. Excluding that, IG Group’s adjusted net revenue was down 4 percent on a yearly basis, which the company says it reflected anticipated moderation in trading activity.
IG Group has completed the acquisition of Chicago-based fintech startup tastytrade in June 2021. The $1 billion deal included $300 million in cash and 61 million IG shares, which were valued at this time at $700 million.
