Global commodities brokerage Marex Spectron has announced its financial results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019. The group marked strong growth in revenues and profits, helped in large part by a series of acquisitions.
For 2019, Marex Spectron posted a total of $554.9 million worth of gross revenues, which represents a growth of 43.0 percent year-over-year from $388.5 million in 2018. Net revenues also rose by 19 percent to $349.9 million from $294.7 million in the prior year.
In addition, Marex’s EBITDA advanced 36 percent to $70.5 million, compared with $52.0 million in 2018 and $39.6 million in 2017.
In terms of its bottom-line metrics, the company’s profit before tax more than doubled to $46.6million relative to $13.4 million the previous year, while its adjusted profit before tax (which excludes one-time items) increased to $53.4 million from $45.6 million in 2018.
Looking ahead, unaudited results for the first quarter show Marex’s net revenues were up 41 percent to $142.2 million, while its core profits jumped 50 percent to $26.5 million.
“We exceeded our financial targets for 2019, with record results across every financial metric, which was achieved despite the various macroeconomic headwinds. We successfully transformed the scale and scope of the Group and these results, together with the first quarter results from 2020, demonstrate the strength of our diversified global business and the commitment of our people worldwide,” said Marex Spectron CEO Ian Lowitt.
Marex steps up takeover spree
Consistent with other firms in the sector, Covid-19 has been a challenge, with 90 percent of Marex’s staff working from home, the CEO revealed.
One of the biggest contributors to the strong results was Marex’s takeovers spree. Most recently, it concluded the purchase of Marquee Oil Broking Limited, a provider of physical fuel oil broking services, which was the latest consolidation in a sector squeezed by rising competition and smaller margins.
Also last year, Marex acquired the commodities business of London-based BGC European Holdings, CSC Commodities. The deal came a few weeks after it signed an agreement to acquire the customer business of futures brokerage Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG).
Marex has expanded aggressively since being taken private in 2010 by JRJ Ventures, the private equity group founded by former Lehman executives Roger Nagioff and Jeremy Isaacs.
These gains also build on an already successful expansion of Marex Solutions, the corporate hedging and structured notes business, that saw its revenue double to $18.8 million. Marex Spectron has also launched a new Clearing and Execution platform, which are exclusively focused on the wholesale market, including banks, funds, asset managers, corporates, and trading groups.
