GAIN Capital’s Retail FX Volumes Rise to $130.8B in December

FX retail volumes at GAIN Capital Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: GCAP) bounced back in December with a four percent jump in daily trading volumes compared to the previous month. The largest FX broker in the US, however, failed to best its 2018 equivalent as December’s turnover saw a hefty decline from a year earlier.

In particular, GAIN Capital’s retail clients transacted a total of $130.8 billion in December 2019, up month-over-month from $125.6 billion in November 2019. Over a yearly timetable, GAIN’s latest retail OTC volume was sharply lower by 32 percent from $192.6 billion in December 2018.

The recent consolidation snapped the largely flat or declining volumes seen in recent months, but Q4 FX volumes were still lagging behind earlier months this year.

The group’s average daily volumes (ADVs) came in at $6.2 billion in December 2019, up 3.3 percent month-over-month from $6 billion per day in November 2019. This figure has fallen by 35 percent on a yearly basis from $9.6 billion the previous year.

Meanwhile, active accounts in the retail segment totaled 122,532 in December 2019, which slightly increased on a monthly basis from 121,801 accounts in November 2019. This reading was also marginally lower relative to 123,171 in December 2018.

Weak financial results

Finally, futures trading dropped last month to 477,386 contracts, corresponding to a loss of 25 percent from a year earlier when weighed against 641,094 contracts in December 2018.

"Market conditions remained soft during the fourth quarter with CVIX down 13% and the VIX down 12% compared to the third quarter. However our Retail revenue capture for the quarter was approximately $94, only slightly below our long term average, whilst revenue per contract in Futures was approximately $4.60 in line with the third quarter," stated Glenn Stevens, CEO of GAIN Capital.

According to Gain’s most recent financial report, the US-listed broker suffered from lower revenues, which weighed down the broker’s bottom line for the third quarter. However, the latest report shows positive figures across its client engagement on a year-over-year basis.

GAIN’s net revenues for Q3 2019 came in at $66.7 million, constituting a drop of 30 percent compared to $95.5 reported back in the third quarter of 2018. On a quarterly basis, the company revenue was also lower by 11 percent from $75.5 million in the second quarter.