Trading platform Plus500 hails bumper annual results

Plus500 shrugged off a slowdown in activity during the FIFA World Cup to praise an ‘outstanding’ full-year operating performance.

The financial technology company’s total revenue rose 16 percent to $832 million in 2022, while profit on client trading positions soared from just $15.9 million the previous year to $193 million.

The market volatility caused by the Covid-19 crisis and the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been a huge boon to the Israeli group over the past three years.

As expected, trading volumes were slightly negatively impacted by the World Cup in Qatar towards the end of 2022, in line with previous tournaments.

The number of active customers has also declined since the peak of the pandemic, dropping by nearly a third to 280,000 last year alone.

Yet the company’s revenue still grew to $832 million, which, combined with sound cost management, helped drive annual underlying revenues up 17 percent to approximately $454 million.

The FTSE 250 company also said its cash balance had risen to more than $900 million, while earnings per share were estimated at around $3.80.

Chief executive David Zuria said: ‘2022 was another outstanding year for Plus500, providing further clear evidence of our continued successful execution against our strategic roadmap and key operational objectives.

“The group’s strategic, operational and financial traction continues to be driven primarily by the strength of our market-leading proprietary technology and our continued ability to attract and retain higher value customers over the long term.”

Plus500 revised its forecasts several times during the year and launched two new share buyback programs thanks to its strong performance.

It told investors Tuesday that it remains committed to returning at least half of its net profit to investors through share buybacks and dividends on a semi-annual basis.

Founded in 2008, Plus500 is known for allowing private investors to trade stocks and commodities, as well as complex financial instruments such as futures and contracts for difference.

A CFD is an agreement between a broker and an investor whereby the former bets on the future price of a stock, commodity or indices over a specified period of time.

Depending on how the value of the asset changes, one of the two parties must pay the amount between the opening and closing price.

Plus500 shares rose 5.1 percent on Tuesday afternoon to 17.95, making it one of the top ten risers on the FTSE 350 Index.