Social trading provider eToro has published its annual report and financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 on Tuesday. The report is for the firm’s UK-based subsidiary, eToro (UK) Limited.
Overall, the company achieved solid results in its key areas in the 12 months ended December 31, 2017. The firm mainly attributes this to a significant increase in customer activity. This was both in its contracts-for-difference (CFD) business and in cryptocurrencies.
Speaking to Finance Magnates, a spokesperson from eToro UK said: "2017 was a strong year for eToro driven in part by the rise of crypto-assets, but also by our continued global expansion and growth in our product range, notably our CopyPortfolios.
"Globally, eToro added over 3 million new registered users. In terms of overall sentiment, we are very positive, not just for crypto but other asset classes. We feel multi-asset platforms such as eToro will be instrumental in the new world of 'tokenized asset' offerings."
For eToro UK, its revenues are primarily generated from commissions earned on CFDs; revenues received from its parent company and net of execution costs paid to the executing broker. In 2017, net trading commissions experienced a significant uptick of 85 percent at $518,961.
Net income for eToro UK jumped by 33 percent year-on-year to reach $2.67 million. This is in comparison to 2016, which had a net income of $1.85 million. Net profit was also up year-on-year, coming in at $142,106. This is an increase of 25 percent from 2016 which recorded a net profit of $106,276.
eToro’s UK subsidiary also reported an increase in Forex gains (minus losses). In 2016, the firm actually reported a loss of $778 in this area. However, 2017 managed to reverse this and come in at $47,436.
Operating profit was one of the few sectors that experienced a year-on-year loss. In 2016, operating profit was $120,914. In 2017, however, operating profit was only $100,137, representing a decline of around 21 percent.
eToro UK Expects a Significant Increase in Customers in 2018
Looking ahead, eToro UK expects that it will see a significant uptick in customers during 2018. To achieve this, the firm has been working hard to increase its exposure and generate more brand awareness.
In August, Finance Magnates reported that eToro announced that it was partnering with not one, but seven Premier League teams in the United Kingdom. On top of that, the sponsorship agreement that has been closed by the company will be paid to the teams in bitcoin.
"Year to date in 2018, eToro has continued to grow. In March we completed a $100m fundraise to support our expansion into new markets such as the US as well as our continued research and development of Blockchain technology and the tokenisation of assets. Our crypto wallet and crypto exchange will go live later this year," the spokesperson added.
