- Q3 revenue up 11%
- New customers up 21%
- Full year guidance reiterated
Global fintech and trading platform Plus500 (PLUS) revealed continued strong trading in the third quarter as revenues and profit increased by 11% and 2% respectively.
The company also reiterated full year expectations in line with raised guidance given at the half year results.
The shares added 1% to £24.46 taking gains over the last 12-months to 71% compared with a 23% advance for the FTSE 250 mid-cap index.
CEO David Zruia commented: ‘Plus500 delivered further strategic and operational successes during the third quarter of 2024 as the group continues to go from strength-to-strength across its global operations.
‘Underpinned by a strong financial position, the group remains strategically well positioned to capture both short-term market dynamics, as well as the longer-term structural growth trends in its end markets, as evidenced by the strong momentum seen during 2024 to date.’
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Revenue for the three months to the end of September increased by 11% to $187.3 million while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) was up by 2% to $82.2 million equating to a reduction in margin on sales from 48% to 44%, reflecting investments to drive growth.
New customers increased by 21% year-on-year to 24,922, taking the nine-month total to 81,681 compared with 71,089 in the same period of 2023. Customer activity increased ‘significantly’ as total customer trades reached 14.5 million, up 14% year-on-year.
The group’s strategic decision to focus on higher value customers drove a 17% increase in average deposit per active customer to around $6.150, building on momentum which has seen it improve by 146% over the last five years.
Plus500 remains debt free and ended the period with cash balances above $950 million. The company spent $53 million on share buybacks in the quarter, leaving the number of shares in issue at 74.8 million, equating to a 30% reduction since 2020.
Since IPO (initial public offering) in 2013 Plus500 has distributed $2.3 billion in shareholder returns, positioning the company as the top performer in the FTSE All-Share index, based on total returns.
