Plus500 (LON:PLUS) has announced its interim results for the six months ended on the 30th of June 2020, revealing a solid uptick in revenues, as well as revealing that it will be commencing a new share buyback program.
Starting first with the financial results, the Israel-based broker reported total revenue of $564.2 million for the first half of this year. When measuring this against the same period of the previous year, total revenue has increased significantly by 281 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, this uptick in revenues was driven by the heightened Volatility towards the beginning of the year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The company also attributes the consistent performance of its Trading Platform . In addition, EBITDA increased by 452 per cent year on year, and the operating profit rose by 459.1 per cent to reach $360.6 million.
During the first half of 2020, the London-listed firm saw record levels of customer income of $556.9 million. This bolsters their customer income revenue by 218 per cent against the first half of 2019.
Across the six month period, more than 47 million customer trades were made, as opposed to 17.5 million in H1 of 2019, This translated to a growth spurt of 168.6 per cent. Though customer trading performance contributed 1 per cent to total revenue.
As can be expected, due to the renewed interest in trading, Plus500 posted unprecedented levels of new customers and active customers. In the first six months of the year, the broker noted client deposits of $1,653.4 million, which is up by 254 per cent year on year.
Broker Announces New Share Buyback Program
In addition to reporting its financial results for H1 2020, Plus500 also revealed that it has completed its latest share buyback program during the period. As part of this program, the broker repurchased $38.9 million worth of its own ordinary shares.
According to the statement filed through the London Stock Exchange (LSE) today, Plus500 will be commencing a new share buyback program in which the broker will repurchase $67.3 million of its own shares.
As Finance Magnates reported, the retail broker first announced its most recent share buyback program on the 12th of February 2020 in which the company will buy back up to an additional $30 million of its ordinary shares. This follows the completion of the firm’s previous buyback program when it repurchased $50 million worth of shares.
Plus500 to Focus on Scaling Technology
Commenting on the performance, David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer, said in the statement: "Plus500 delivered an outstanding performance during the first half of the year, driven by the strength and differentiation of our proprietary technology, which enabled our business and our customers to benefit from the unprecedented market volatility and event-driven market conditions experienced during the period.
"As well as our performance in the first half of 2020, driven by our continued delivery in customer acquisition and customer satisfaction, we have continued to invest in our technology, with a focus on driving its scale, efficiency and attractiveness for customers. This programme of continuous improvement and refinement ensures we will continue to deliver sustainable long term growth.
"Overall, the Board remains very confident about the outlook for the business and our ability to deliver sustainable growth in revenue, with continued strong cash generation, over the medium to long term."
