IG Group (LON:IGG) has filed a preliminary report with the London Stock Exchange this morning, revealing that the company’s profits have dropped despite an increase in revenues. The brokerage has announced that its profits before taxes declined by 2.8 per cent when compared to last year to £98.6 million.
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Looking at the revenues of IG Group, the figure was reported higher by 8.8 per cent year-on-year, which totals £214.8 million. The decline in profits is primarily due to an increase in expenses, which totaled 18.7 per cent year-on-year. The company has clarified in its announcement that the increase in spending is related to investments in future growth.
Diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) were down 2.5 per cent to 20.91 pence, while IG Group generated £87.2 million of its own funds from operations. The figure was flat when compared to the same period of fiscal 2015.
The London headquartered brokerage has announced an interim dividend of 8.45 pence per share, which is in line with its dividend policy. During the period, the firm registered a 25 per cent increase in new clients, defined as first trades.
IG Group has also highlighted an ongoing steady growth in the number of clients of the company’s stockbroking unit. The company has also announced that it has made significant progress made in improving its client on-boarding process.
The new CEO of IG Group, Peter Hetherington, commented on the results: “Building on our strong operational and Risk Management capabilities, we are driving continuous improvement and value from the current business. At the same time, we are laying foundations for broadening the IG offering, to take advantage of supportive macro trends in financial behavior, by leveraging the market-leading platform we have built."
