Pepperstone Limited, the UK subsidiary of the Australian-headquartered Pepperstone Group, has published its annual report for its fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. The firm, which temporarily suspended trading to refocus its operations, managed to achieve a sustained period of growth during the year.
Pepperstone Limited is an execution-only Forex and contracts for difference (CFD) broker. The firm entered into the UK market with a soft launch in 2017. Following this, the company suspended trading to enhance its systems and improve its operations until it recommenced business activities in August of 2017.
Despite two months of suspended trading carried into the firm’s 2018 fiscal year, Pepperstone Limited still managed to achieve a trading revenue of £4.98 million ($6.4 million). Trading revenue is based on the commissions and spreads against CFDs.
This is significantly up from the trading revenue achieved in 2017, which came in at £32,952, representing a year-on-year increase of slightly more than 99 percent. However, when comparing the two figures, it is important to note that its operations were limited during the broker’s 2017 fiscal year.
Trading expenses also saw an increase year-on-year, climbing by 98.5 percent from £19,931 to reach £1.4 million. This resulted in a gross profit of £3.6 million for the year ended June 30, 2018, which represents a growth of 99.6 percent from the 2017 fiscal year.
Pepperstone Limited achieves profitability
For the 2018 fiscal year, Pepperstone Limited managed to achieve a profit of £1.7 million. This is the first time the broker has been profitable since it started its operations last year. For the 2017 fiscal year, the broker reported a loss of £280,162.
At the year ended June 30, 2018, the balance of client funds held within segregated accounts was £14.6 million. Again, this is much higher (almost 100 percent) than the £4,890 held in 2017.
Pepperstone Group prepares for Brexit
In the report, Pepperstone Limited also outlines its Brexit strategy. Given the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and passporting rights, Pepperstone Group has established a German entity and has applied for a full license through BaFin.
At present, the office has two staff members, and the application is in the advanced stages. The company believes it will be granted the license approval before Britain leaves the European Union in March of next year.
