Polish retail brokerage XTB has published its preliminary first-half earnings for 2018 today. During the six months ended June 30, 2018, the firm saw a significant uptick in revenues and profit, with some areas more than doubling.
The strong results were largely due to new clients joining and actively trading with the broker during the six months up to June 30 this year. During this time, the number of new clients was 10,046 - an increase of 24 percent year-on-year. The number of active clients was also up by 25 percent or 4,387 from the first half of 2017.
Total operating income for the Polish broker for the first half of 2018 came in at €46.7 million ($53.5 million). When compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of around 37 percent or €17.2 million.
Net profit demonstrated one of the most impressive growths during the first half of this year. Coming in at €23.7 million, this is more than three times the value experienced in the first half of 2017, which was €6.9 million.
Net cash from operating activities also saw an impressive jump. In the first half of 2018, net cash was €30.6 million. In the first half of last year, net cash was €1.5 million. This means the value of net cash increased by 95 percent year-on-year.
Foreign Exchange Results for XTB
Looking at the broker's Forex operations, this too showed positive results. Total forex gains for the first half of 2018 was €1.6 million. This is a strong result for the broker because according to the report, XTB reported no gains in forex during the first half of 2017.
Foreign exchange losses were also considerably less this year than they were in 2017. In H1 of this year, losses were €777,290. This is more than three times less than the losses experienced in the first half of last year, which was €2.9 million.
The total value of contracts for differences (CFDs) in H1 2018 was up by around 36 percent, coming in at €45 million. Specifically, the total value of currency CFDs increased by 29 percent to reach €13.5 million.
In terms of revenues, CFD instruments based on currency pairs contributed to 29.3 percent of total revenues against 31.9 percent a year earlier. From this class, the EURUSD currency pair was the most popular among XTB's clients, the report said. Commodity CFDs also experienced an increase in activity, with the value jumping by almost 45 percent to hit €7.6 million.
