Plus500 profit nearly halved in H1 2023, revenue down 25%
Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) said revenues for the first six months of its fiscal year 2023 were $368.5 million, down by 25 percent from $511.4 million in the six months through June 2022.
In a market update, Plus500 reported its H1 revenue was up 15 percent from $321 million in the second half of 2022. At the bottom line, the spread betting and CFDs broker told investors that it earned $174 million in H1 2023’s EBITDA, which was also lower by 43 percent from $305 million in H1 2022.
Compared to the previous semester, the figure rose by 17 percent when weighed against $148 million in the six months ending December 2022.
In an update for the period ended June 30, the company highlighted “consistent strength” in customer income and said this supported a strong revenue performance in the quarter just ended.
Notably, Plus500 continued to add more active accounts, saying that they had seen increased levels of trading activity in the first half, and that revenue from customer income had been strong.
However, the group’s client on-boarding activity decelerated from a year earlier with the number of new customers falling by 12 percent to 50,449 compared to 57,275 reported back in H1 2022. Compared with the H2 2022, Plus500 had still seen healthy numbers of new customers sign up when compared against 49,274 in the previous semester.
Additionally, the number of active clients decreased between January and June 2023 to 175,762, down 19 percent against 216,928 over the same period in 2022.
In its filing to the stock exchange, Plus500 highlighted the progress it made against the group’s strategic roadmap including expanding into new markets and introducing new products.
The London-listed brokerage house is reportedly considering a listing on a U.S. stock exchange following the City watchdog’s plans to shake up the rules companies must follow to list on the London Stock Exchange. According to a report by The Times, the FTSE 250 company is eyeing a potential dual listing in New York as Plus500 executives are unhappy with the current valuation, considering that it could be worth considerably more in the US where valuations for similar firms tend to be higher.
The Haifa, Israel-based multi-asset trading platform said earlier this year that it aims to achieve an annualised revenue objective of $500 million over a five-year span. To achieve its self-invented metric for annual revenue, Plus500 set goals of expanding existing products, introduction of new products, deepening customer engagement and expanding into new geographies, including the U.S.
Plus500, which has a market value of £1.22 billion and has been a top performer on the FTSE All-Share Index in terms of shareholder returns since it went public ten years ago. If the decision is confirmed, it will be interesting to see how it navigates the U.S. regulatory environment and competes with other established players in the market.
