IG Group Announces 9% Decline in Global Revenues, Obtains Swiss Regulation

IG Group, a global trading services provider, has issued financial performance data for Q3 2014. Revenue in Q3 2014 fell 9% year-on-year from £93.6 million to £85.6 million. In an official statement, IG said, “The first three months of the company's financial year (June-Sep 2014) were particularly quiet in the financial markets, with volumes and Volatility close to historic lows and the continuation of recent weakness in Forex activity.”

Looking in more detail at the geographical breakdown of the published performance metrics, it appears that IG’s UK operations were the most resilient of all their global locations, having suffered a 3% year-on-year decline in revenue compared to Australia (-10%), Europe (-9%) and the Rest of the World (-25%). Revenue fell in all regions due to an “extremely quiet backdrop impacting performance,” according to IG’s Interim Management Statement.

The broker reported 9% growth in active clients in Europe and 1% in the Rest of the World, while the UK and Australia saw respective 8% and 9% declines. The group in total suffered a 3% year-on-year decline in active clients globally and a 6% decline in revenue generated per client.

Flat trading conditions in the FX market hit IG’s Japan and Singapore operations most, where revenue fell by 30%. The best performer in terms of revenue growth was South Africa.

Regulated in Switzerland, next is Dubai

Only a few days ago, IG announced the launch of its new stockbroking service offered to clients in the UK and Ireland, claiming the move as a “major strategic development” for the company. IG plans to improve functionality for its new stockbroking service by “adding the ability for clients to use their equity assets as collateral against shorter-term leveraged trading,” and wants to commence a targeted international roll-out as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, Swiss regulator FINMA granted authorization for IG to open a new sales office in Geneva, with the company expecting “to begin trading there in the very near future,” according to a statement.

IG has also announced that it plans to “progress its license application in Dubai,” which suggests an imminent expansion into the Middle East region.