- 2023 guidance for revenue and profit reiterated
- Additional share buyback up to 10% of issued share capital
- Firm makes significant strategic progress
Online trading surged during the pandemic driven by a new cohort of customers who had more time on their hands, but the trend continues to normalise.
For the first half of 2023, global multi-asset fintech group Plus500 (PLUS) onboarded 50,449 new customers, well down from the highs of 2020 but a 2% improvement on the same period of 2022.
Meanwhile, the group’s base of active customers dipped 1% compared to 175,762 in the first half of last year.
Revenues increased 15% year on year to $368.5 million and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) grew 17% to $174.1 million representing a margin on revenue of 47%.
SHARE OVERHANG REMOVED
The shares advanced 3% to £15.14, leaving them down 15% year to date. Following the implosion of Odey Asset Management in early June, there was concern over a potential share overhang given the hedge fund was the firm’s second-largest investor.
On 13 June, Plus500 bought back 7.3 million shares representing 8.2% of its outstanding capital for a total consideration of $127.5 million. The transaction saw OAM reduce its shareholding to 1.79 million shares, according to Refinitiv data, partially removing the overhang.
The firm announced on 19 June it would convene an extraordinary general meeting on 24 July to seek authorization for additional purchases of up to 10% of the issued share capital.
FULL YEAR GUIDANCE MAINTAINED
The firm said it was ‘highly confident’ in the outlook for 2023 and anticipated meeting market expectations. A company-compiled consensus comprising five analysts sees full-year revenue of $601.2 million and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of $266.9 million, translating into EPS (earnings per share) of $2.43.
Chief executive David Zruia said: ‘We made significant progress in optimising our growth opportunities in the US and Japan, where we continue to make substantial investments to take advantage of the opportunities ahead. Earlier this year the group obtained a license in the United Arab Emirates, demonstrating further progress in diversifying our geographic footprint across high-growth markets.
‘In addition, we continued to deliver outstanding levels of returns to our shareholders during the period, through $214.1m in share repurchases and the $29.9m dividend payment due tomorrow, on 11 July 2023, which emphasise the Board's view of the current value of the company's shares.’
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