Plus500 has released its latest trading update revealing the amount of damage from the impact on the firm's operations in the U.K. Revenues in the second quarter have decreased materially when compared to the previous one to $43 million. This is 47.5 percent down quarter-on-quarter and remains lower than a year ago by about 5 percent.
The company explains the decline due to the seasonality of the markets, however if the previous year is any guide to the revenues of brokers, 2015 should be looking much better than last year. For the first half of 2014 the currency market Volatility dramatically impacted volumes and revenues around the retail trading industry.
Plus500 has highlighted that all of the clients in the U.K. who were pending verification after their accounts were frozen due to lack of appropriate verification required by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulatory body have been cleared. The total figure of accounts reviewed by the company stands at 13,499.
According to the company's announcement 72 percent of those accounts, or 8,758 clients, have continued trading. The number of accounts which deposited additional funds is reported at 5,261.
In the meantime, 6 percent or 874 clients have chosen to cash out, while a total of five accounts have been suspended due to failures to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) ) procedures.
Plus500 has indicated that on-boarding of new customers in the U.K. is likely to resume in about three weeks time after the company hires external consultants to address compliance issues.
The firm has also communicated to shareholders that it will publish its key performance indicators (KPIs) before the vote on the acquisition by Playtech, to be held on the 16th of July in London.
