Virtu Financial Triples its Revenues in Final Quarter of 2018

High-frequency trader (HFT) and market making firm Virtu Financial (Virtu) released preliminary financial results for the final quarter of 2018 on Tuesday evening.

The New York-based firm said that it expects revenues to reach between $424 million and $447 million.

Unsurprisingly, the bulk of that cash came from the company’s trading activities.

In its statement, the firm said that it estimates trading revenues to be between $350 million and $364 million.

If that does turn out to be the case, it represents a substantial increase on Virtu’s trading revenues for the same period of the previous year.

For the final quarter of 2017, the HFT reported $286.4 million in trading income. That would mean the firm managed to increase that amount by somewhere between 22.1 percent to 27.0 percent in 2018.

Triple Profits for Virtu

Things were even more rosy with regard to the company’s net income.

In the final quarter of 2017, Virtu reported a net income of $33.4 million.

At the end of the same period last year, the firm estimates that it managed to rake in between $100 million and $129 million in net income.

If this is the case, that would mean the firm was able to increase its year-on-year net income by between 199 percent and 286 percent in 2018.

“These preliminary results reflect the strong market conditions that prevailed in the fourth quarter, as well as the continued integration of Virtu and KCG businesses,” said Douglas Cifu, Chief Executive Officer of Virtu Financial. “We will report full results in early February, however, these preliminary results reflect strong performance across all business lines and asset classes.”

Big things are on the horizon for Virtu as the firm enters the new year.

Assuming it receives regulatory approval, the firm is set to complete its acquisition of Investment Technology Group, a financial technology company and agency broker, in the first half of the year.