C B Financial Services Ltd, trading as One Financial Markets, has released its annual report and year-end financial statements for the period ending December 31, 2017. The latest results on UK Companies House showed a notable slump in the FCA-regulated broker’s revenues in conjunction with a sharply lower net profit for the reported period.
For the year ending December 31, 2017, One Financial Markets’ turnover dropped to $28.4 million, down 25 percent relative to $37.7 million in 2016.
On the positive side, the company experienced a decline in administrative expenses during the latest fiscal period, which were reported at $11.9 million, decreasing by a factor of 11 percent year-over-year from $13.4 million in 2016.
Operating income was also pointed lower during FY 2017, albeit still in the black. One Financial Markets saw a reading of -$11.97 million, shedding 1.4 percent year-over-year compared to $12.14 million in the year prior. Looking at the group’s bottom line for the financial year, which factored out interest receivable and other income, the company reported a net profit of only $239,664, sharply lower year-over-year when compared with $4.9 million in 2016.
C B Financial Services said in the filing that its net operating income reduced due to lower client trading activity, as experienced by the wider market. The company blamed FCA and European regulators’ proposals to impose tougher rules for retail CFD, FX and spread betting providers.
If further explained: “Much of the year was focused on dialogue with our core regulators, participating in the industry-wide debate in which firms used their best endeavours to explain to regulators that the proposals would give little if any positive benefit to retail clients and in most cases, would be detrimental or irrelevant to the quality of customer outcomes.”
Against this background, One Financial Markets plans to launch several new initiatives to help operations continue to grow without significant impact from regulatory change or stress on the company’s balance sheet.
Setting sights on Saudi Arabia
Finally, the London-based firm noted that the performance of its Dubai branch was disappointing, blaming the reluctance of the regulators to fully embrace the retail market that they had only recently decided to enter. As such, One Financial Markets has restructured this business to focus on the institutional market and also moved its retail operations in the Gulf to a new center.
“We will continue, in particular, to keep a close watch on Saudi Arabia and the reforms set out in Vision 2030 to see the impact they have both in the Kingdom and neighboring states.” It added.
Presently, One Financial Markets is authorized and regulated by other global regulators, including the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ) and Financial Services Board (FSB) in South Africa. The company offers global presence with local expertise through its wholly owned and affiliate offices throughout the Middle East, Europe, South America and Central and South East Asia.
