Plus500 sees bumper fourth quarter, but full-year performance disappoints
Plus500 said revenues between October and December were $161 million, up by almost 75 from $92 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The London-stock market listed broker, however, wasn’t heading for bumper full-year results as operational and financial performance throughout 2021 was downbeat over a yearly basis.
In a market update, Plus500 reported $718.7 million in full-year revenue, down 18 percent from $872 million a year earlier. At the bottom line, the spread betting and CFDs broker told investors that it earned $387.1 million in 2021 EBITDA, which was also lower by a quarter from $515.9 million in 2020.
Plus500, which sponsors Atlético de Madrid, reported its core profit for Q4 2021 at $70.9 million, up 256 percent from less than $20 million in the same period of 2020.
The group also saw its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) improving to $937 in Q4 2021, up from $427 in 2020, or 120 percent higher year-over-year. Plus500 attributed the better AUAC result to the proportion of high value customers, which also provides potential for increased future revenues.
In terms of the Average User Acquisition Cost (AUAC), Plus500 reported a meaningful increase as the onboarding costs rose by 64 percent year-over-year to $1,502, which was well above $916 in Q4 2020.
In an update for the period ended December 31, the company highlighted “consistent strength” in customer income and said this supported a strong revenue performance in the year just ended.
However, the group’s client on-boarding activity deaccelerated in the fourth quarter with the number of new customers falling by 34 percent to 33,187 compared to 50,314 reported back in Q4 2020. But on a quarter-over-quarter basis, Plus500 had still seen healthy numbers of new customers sign up when compared against 26,169 in the third quarter.
Plus500 made significant progress with strategic roadmap, says CEO
Additionally, the number of active clients decreased between October and December to 171,922, down 20 percent against 215,305 over the same period in 2020.
On a full-year scale, the numbers of new customers and active traders were down 33 and 6 percent, respectively, from its counterparts in the comparable 12 months.
The CFDs broker was also encouraged by its entry into the futures and trading markets following acquisitions of Cunningham Commodities, a futures commission merchant, and CTS, a technology trading platform partner.
David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Plus500 delivered another excellent operational and financial performance in 2021 and we made significant progress with our strategic roadmap to develop our position as a leading global multi-asset fintech group. Our future growth will be delivered through continued development of our technology, particularly in relation to driving customer retention, successfully obtaining new operating licenses and launching new products. These growth opportunities will be achieved by continued organic investments in our business and through additional acquisitions.”
We last reported about Plus500 yesterday as the company obtained a license in Estonia to operate as an investment firm under the brand ‘Plus500EE AS.’
