IG Group (LON: IGG) closed six months ended 30 November 2022, which is the first half of the financial year 2023, with total revenue of £519.1 million and pre-tax profits of £240.5 million. While the revenue jumped 10 percent year-over-year, the pre-tax profits slightly decreased by 2 percent.

IG Sees Solid Revenue

The adjusted total revenue came in at £519.1 million, with an uptick of 11 percent. The adjusted pre-tax profits also jumped 1 percent to £260.7 million. However, the net profits declined to £194.9 million, by 4 percent.

Despite the solid revenue growth, the profits took a hit because of the increasing operating costs. IG’s operating expenses for the six-month period increased by 25 percent to £279.9 million. The jump in operating costs was due to “an additional month of tastytrade, FX headwinds, and increases in headcount.”

The company’s basic earnings per share for the period came in at 45.8 pence, which is 5 percent lower than 48.1 pence for the same period in the previous year. The adjusted earnings stood at 49.7 pence, which is 2 percent lower.

According to the officially published figures, the net trading revenue increased by 5 percent to £494.9 million, while the adjusted number jumped 6 percent. Its net interest income rose across all business divisions as the total figure came in at a gain of £24.2 million compared to a loss of £0.4 million seen in the previous year.

The trading platform added 37,500 new clients in the period, which is down from 53,600 new additions in the first half of FY22. It ended the period with 312,000 clients.

“Despite a softening in trading demand due to the global economic environment, our high-quality clients have continued to find opportunities to trade, demonstrating the resilience of the business model,” said IG’s Chief Executive, June Felix.

“This is the result of our unwavering focus on investing in and prioritizing the delivery of best-in-class technology and platforms, innovation, client service, and marketing . All achieved while delivering significant profit margins and consistently generating healthy levels of cash and capital.”

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Extended Share Buyback

On top of that, IG extended its existing share buyback program with the allocation of an additional £50 million. The share buyback program now has a total allocation of £200 million with an original amount of £150 million.

Initially, the London-listed company launched its share buyback program last July. It repurchased £126.6 million in shares from the open market by 24 January. The program's purpose is to reduce its share capital, which is a business strategy followed by its competitors like CMC Markets and Plus500.