IG Group Holdings plc has reported strong earnings growth in the 6 months up to November, helped by volatile markets. The company which operates IG Index reported a 28% increase in net trading revenues to £195.5m for the period. Following the record figures, IG Group stated that the growth in net trading revenues was fuelled by a 15% increase in the number of clients trading in the period. Financial spread betting revenues rose by 36% to £71.0m, while revenues from CFDs increased 24% to £116.1m. Binary trading contributed an additional £8.3m in revenues, up 18% year-on-year.

Active clients increased 38% in continental Europe for the half-year, more than in any other are, and the region contributed £37.8m to group revenue. IG’s Japanese operation was adversely impacted last year by new rules which curbed leverage limits for its clients trading CFDs. Its revenue in the country fell by 25% in the period to £8.4m.

IG pointed out that market conditions for the first half-year period were mixed, with relatively subdued months of trading in June and July, greatly offset by extraordinary market volatility in August which spiked client activity to new record levels. After August market volatility remained high but as clients became more accustomed to these market conditions, client activity reverted back to more normal levels.

The FTSE 250 company recorded profit before taxes and exceptionals amounting to £103.2m for the six months ended November 30 – which is sharply up compared to a loss of £70.1m, or a profit of £80.6m when one-off items were excluded. Administrative costs increased by 23% to £92.3m, with tax expenses amounting to £27.6m, up 20% year-on-year. IG, which has around 140,000 clients, also reported an 11% increase in average revenue per client in the first half of fiscal 2012. As a result the company registered net profit o £75.2m for the period. Meanwhile, the company is evaluating the possibility of setting up operations in Switzerland and parts of the Middle East, CEO Tim Howkins said Tuesday.

‘IG has again delivered record results with strong growth in both revenue and profits,” said IG CEO Tim Howkins. “Our significant investment in technology and strong financial position support our increasing market lead and we remain well positioned to deliver further profitable growth. I remain confident about the outlook for the business.’

The growth was boosted not only by market turbulence but also by substantial investments in IT and marketing as well as the demise of rival MF Global at the end of October 2011. IG has highlighted that its international roll-out mobile trading platforms which now include mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry devices now accounts for 16% of all client-initiated trades – more than double what it was a year earlier. IG declared an interim dividend of 5.75 pence, amounting to £20.9m, which amounts to an increase of 10% when compared to the same period last year. As at November 30th the company held cash and cash equivalents of £200.6m compared to £109.3m a year ago.

London Capital Group (LCG); the mother company behind Capital Spreads saw UK financial spread betting trades reach record levels in the financial year ended 31 December, the company revealed in its full-year trading update this morning.

London Capital Group Holdings plc (LCG) has reported a 13% rise in revenues to £39.0m for the year ended December 31st 2011, following considerable growth witnessed during the second half of the financial year as a result of market volatility.

Revenue for the second half of the year 2011 was up 52% to £20.7m buoyed by ‘market volatility’, helping the company register a 13% increase in full year revenues to £39.0m. Average trades per day increased 10.8% to 33,042 (2010: 29,832), while net revenue per active client rose 7% year-on-year to £1,370.

The company is now receiving 30% of its account applications from international jurisdictions as LCG continues to pursue its strategy of overseas expansion. LCG noted that its new CFD operations are gaining momentum in both number of clients and trade volumes, showing signs of maturing to break even. LCG’s institutional foreign trading business and business to business broking businesses continued to generate strong revenue with LCG’s institutional foreign exchange business having achieved record volumes of $2.10bn per day, up 25% year-on-year, and a 10% increase in divisional profit.

The company expects full year results (due in on 22 February) to be in line with market expectations. Last year, a judgement from the Financial Ombudsman Service raised the possibility of LCG being forced to pay £7.7m compensation over a failed fund and London Capital Group stated that there has been no developments and that it will update the market when further information is available. The company emphasised that its balance sheet remains strong with £25.1m of net cash resources as at 31 December 2011. Meanwhile in separate news LCG announced that it has appointed its first-ever in-house lawyer with the the hire of ex-Slaughter and May lawyer Martin Creek from Axiom Legal.

WorldSpreads Group announced its interim results today where it reported revenues from operations rising 11% to €8.28m (2010: €7.44m) but pre-tax losses rise.

The European division saw revenues climbing up 22% to €3.08m (2010: €2.52m) for the six months ended 30 September 2011. However, the Group has experienced slower growth in the UK market with net revenue growth of 2% in the period. Losses from continuing operations amounted to €600,000 (2010: Loss €440,000) as the company spent more on infrastructure and marketing.

Average trades per day rose 22% to 9,612 (2010: 7,862) and total active clients from continuing operations were up 40% to 4,916 (2010: 3,507).

WorldSpreads highlighted its strong balance sheet with net cash (excluding monies held on behalf of clients) of €11 million (2010: €13 million) and net assets of €21 million (2010: €23 million). The net cash position will be further improved by €1.650 million (€1.44 million) with the final payment of the deferred consideration from the sale of the Irish, which is due at the end of December 2011.

The Group has continued to increase its investment in IT in order to ensure that it continues to improve its platform offerings and has a pipeline of new products and innovations. in particular the Group recently launched new mobile and CFD trading platforms, both of which have yet to contribute to the Group’s results.

CEO Conor Foley noted ‘Against a background of very turbulent markets we continue to make steady progress in the implementation of our long term strategy.’

‘Unsettled conditions in the Euro area and the volatility in markets that accompanied it delivered a boost to top line activity but mandated an extremely focused approach to risk and exposure. “Our international operations are progressing as anticipated. Our IT platform and product suite is developing fast and on time with the recent release on an on-line CFD offering and a mobile telephony application. Their impact on top and bottom line revenue should be felt from early in 2012′.

In a trading update for the first half ending November 30, British financial spread betting provider IG Group stated that first-half revenue should rise 23%, with trading volumes boosted by market volatility.

“Following on from a strong first quarter, the group has continued to experience high levels of client activity during the second quarter of its financial year,” IG on Tuesday.

IG Group which operates a number of market-leading brands, including IG Index now expects first-half revenues of more than GBP193.0m for the first half, compared to GBP156.7m in the corresponding period for the prior year, adding costs had been in line with management expectations. This would represent growth of at least 23%.

IG Group issued a profit warning in January after experiencing weak trading volumes at the end of 2010. It has since recovered as investors and traders have returned back, with clients looking to bet on large swings in financial markets caused by the market turmoil engulfing the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.

On Friday, WorldSpreads released a trading update for the six months ending 30 September 2011 where it noted that higher levels of volatility in the financial markets has boosted its customer numbers and trading volumes.

In particular, WorldSpreads said that it expects to report top line revenues ‘comfortably’ ahead of the same period last year for the six months ended September 30th, having recorded the company’s busiest trading month ever during August.

The company has continued to generate healthy levels of business, as represented by Active Clients and Trade Numbers, in the period since 31 March 2011, boosted partly by high levels of volatility in the financial markets. In particular, the month of August was the busiest trading month in the history of the company. The company has adopted a conservative hedging policy during this period and expects to announce top line revenues that exceeds those of the same period last year.

WorldSpreads has continued its international expansion during the period, seeing positive returns from the investment it has made in these markets. The company has also made additional investment in its Company’s IT infrastructure and it is expecting to launch a new mobile trading platform and a CFD platform before the calendar year end.

The annual report reported that revenues for the year to March amounted to €16.5 million (£14.3 million), up from nearly €13 million a year earlier. After expenses that turned into a loss of €778,000; mainly due to increased marketing spending. Chief executive Conor Foley was paid €200,802 last year. He has more than seven million shares in the business.

WorldSpreads’ board said that it is satisfied with the progress the company has made in the past six months and is encouraged by the pipeline of opportunities the company has to fuel growth in the coming periods.

CMC Markets registered a pre-tax loss of £23.7m for the year ending March 2011, up from £13m in the previous year.

Billionaire Peter Cruddas famously founded CMC Markets with just £10,000 in 1989

In particular, CMC cited the increased losses due to a write-off of £12.3m on its flagship technology platform, MarketMaker which is currently being phased out and distributing the cost of investment in its new NextGen trading platform. CMC Markets, which is majority-owned by Conservative Party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas also invested £23.7m in the year on a move to new London premises, a new data centre and other fixed assets. The pre-tax loss came despite a 7% jump in group revenue to £160.7m.

Despite the loss Mr Cruddas still sounded upbeat. ‘CMC is the only company in our industry which is genuinely redefining the way that online retail trading and investing will be done in the future’

The results showed that CMC Markets had £63.6m of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet at the end of March, against £73.4m a year earlier. A company spokesman noted that the company is experiencing strong trading for the present financial year with increases in customer numbers and revenues across their markets and they are on track for making a profit for the year.

IG Group issued a trading note today ahead of its 13 September interim management statement stating that it has benefited from heavy trading business in the past few weeks as stock markets, shares and commodities have swung wildly. The trading boom came despite it being the holiday season in most countries where it operates which means many professional and amateur traders are away from their screens.

In a brief trading update the company added that it is now expecting to achieve revenue growth to the tune of approximately 19%, up to £94m compared to £79.1m that it generated in the same period a year ago, following ‘record levels of client activity [due to] recent market volatility’ over the past few weeks. The spread betting and CFD trading company experienced the same number of trades in the first 2 weeks of August alone as in the whole of August last year, as clients were tempted to take advantage of the market volatility.

The market jitters over the past month has been mainly driven by fear that sluggish USA growth and the eurozone debt crisis could trigger a double dip recession. European countries have placed a ban on short-selling of financial securities in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium for 15 days to try to calm the activity, but the stock markets remain very nervous with rumours continuing to drive sentiment. IG and other spread betting providers have also benefited by increasing activity in commodity prices, with the gold price reaching a record high of more than $1,880 per ounce, while oil prices have been weak amid concerns about the global economy.

IG Group, whose clients at wholly owned subsidiary IG Index bet on which way markets, share prices and commodity prices will move, said that costs and bad debts have been kept in line with management’s expectations. IG added that the doubtful debt charge for the quarter will be less than 1% of revenues for the quarter. The company had issued something of a profit warning in January 2011 after weak trading volumes at the end of last year impacted its business performance.

London Capital Group, which operates the flagship spread betting company Capital Spreads has released its first-half results for the year today posting first-half profit before tax of £2.69, up 213% from last year’s £0.86 million pounds. Six-month revenues declined 12% to £18.34 from £20.90 million pounds in the year-ago period, following subdued market conditions for the first six months of this year and high comparables in the corresponding period last year which included extreme volatility in May 2010. Adjusted profit before tax fell to £3 million pounds from £4.2 million pounds in the prior year. The AIM-quoted company registered this sizeable gain as it did not have to bear the previous first half’s £3.2 million software impairment charge.

The company had total cash equivalents of £76.51 million (H1’10: £58.08m), and net cash position up £8.35 million to £22.48 million (H1’10: £14.13 million). Based on the performance in the first half and the net cash position of the Group, the Board is recommending an interim dividend of 1.3p a share (2010: 1.0p) representing 33% of basic earnings per share and total cost of £0.7m (2010: £0.4m).

Financial Spread Betting continues to be the largest contributor to LCG’s revenues but the overall lack of market direction has subdued income in the first half of the year while the growth in LCG’s other divisions has led to a more balanced spread of revenues than in the past. Spread betting contributed 61% of group revenue in the period (2010: 77%).

Net revenue per active client in the period rose to £807, a 15% improvement on the second half of 2010 but down 23% on the corresponding period of 2010. Total cash and cash equivalents were up £18.4m from £58.1m a year earlier to £76.5m, while the net cash position improved to £22.5m from £14.1m at the end of June 2010, helped by the £8m raised through a share placing in March.

During the period London Capital Group signed four new white label clients including TD Waterhouse and XTB, though it lost its franchise with betting company Paddy Power.

Commenting on the results, Simon Denham, Chief Executive, has this to say:

“In the first half of the year we successfully strengthened and widened our product range and made significant progress with our international subsidiaries, as well as bolstering our capital base. LCG is now in a stronger position for the longer term and there are many reasons to be optimistic for the remainder of the year. We are encouraged by current trading, which is a reflection of the strengths of LCGs business model.”

Excluding the United Kingdom’s core retail financial spread betting business, the Group experienced a significant increase in trading activity on the institutional foreign exchange side, with trade volumes up 51% to $292bn (£176bn), while ProSpreads, the Gibraltar-based spread betting business reversed last year’s losses to turn in a small profit. Mr Denham believes that revenue could rise sharply if permission from the Gibraltar Financial Commission is granted to accept business from ‘non-professional defined’ retail clients.

The company has noted that trading conditions for the first half were not as favourable as H1 of last year but the Group has still performed satisfactorily. Simon in particular noted that a general lack of strong directional movement in the stock market restrained trading activity, despite a turnaround at London Capital’s Gibraltar acquisition. He points out institutional foreign exchange made progress, lifting operating profits 4%, while the company’s new institutional broking arm lifted turnover 82% and upped operating profits 32%. Moreover the increased market activity over the last few weeks has resulted in record trading activity levels in both daily trade volumes and account openings.

As previously announced the company suffered an adverse decision from the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”) in February 2011 and was therefore required to raise additional capital through an institutional share placing which concluded in April 2011. The company is now adequately capitalised and is looking into opportunities to penetrate new international markets while continuing to develop its established operation in the United Kingdom. Particularly, the company sees its new regulated operation in Australia as an ‘initial footprint in the Far East’ and is pushing further into mainland Europe. The company has also launched new mobile trading platforms that have been received well by customers and white label partners alike.

Meanwhile the company has also relocated the London head office in May 2011 to new premises which are 50% larger and will help serve the Group better in the coming years as the company continues to expand. The Board of London Capital Group believes the outlook for the remainder of 2011 to be excellent particularly given the the 19% increase in UK financial spreadbetting and CFD accounts.

London Capital Group Holdings plc (“the Group” or “LCG”), the financial services holding company behind Capital Spreads has released a trading statement today to cover the first half of the present financial year ended 30 June 2011.

The Group has reported that profit before tax for the 6 months up to 30 June 2011 is expected to be in line with market expectations with pre-tax profit amounting to about £3.0m. This is stated before taking into account a property provision amounting to £0.2m. The company noted that market volatility and volumes remained subdued during the first half of the year, particularly in April due to the number of public holidays, however the Group continues to trade well. Client acquisition for retail financial spread betting and CFDs remained positive at 5,376 and London Capital Groups’s institutional currency trading business registered record volumes of $2.4bn per day (2010: $1.6bn). We are further told that total client funds on account now stand at £54.0m (2010: £44.0m).

The company stated that the new CFD divisions launched last year are displaying healthy growth both in number of clients and trade volumes although the division still registered a net loss of £0.4m in the period. Meanwhile, a group spokesman stated that the company is looking to further expand its overseas divisions and will update the market in due course.

London Capital Group Holdings plc stated in its statement that there has been no additional recovery of the professional client debt disclosed in the past and the company has not made any provision for this as the Board believes that the amount is recoverable. Furthermore, the Group is awaiting a further update in relation to the Financial Ombudsman Service claims and will update the market as developments unfold. The Group’s balance sheet and net cash resources remain strong with net cash of approximately £22.3m (2010: £14.1m) following the institutional placing completed in April 2011.

With a number of new IT developments launched in the last 12 months, including mobile trading which now makes up 7% of trade volumes, DMA equities, and the addition of new White Label partner TD Waterhouse, the Group remains confident for the second half of 2011. London Capital Group further announced that it will be releasing its interim results on 18 August 2011.

WorldSpreads Group plc has today announced its full year results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2011.

Highlights

– Trading revenue from continuing operations, excluding IT revenue of €0.40m (£0.35m): up 25% to €16.07m (£14.12m) (2010: €12.89m, £11.33m).

– Marketing spend up 455% to €3.22m (£2.83m) (2010: €0.58m, £0.51m).

– Operating loss from continuing operations before stock option compensation: €0.64m (£0.56m) (2010: Operating profit before stock compensation of €3.00m, £2.64m).

– Basic (loss)/earnings per share from continuing operations of (1.7c) (2010: 5.7c).

– Strong balance sheet with net assets of €21.61m (£18.99m) (2010: €22.43m, £19.71m) and Cash (excluding monies held on behalf of clients) of €12m (£10.54m) (2010: €13.0m, £11.42m).

– Average trades per day from continuing operations: up 56% to 9,616 (2010: 6,148).

– 4,508 (2010: 4,124) new clients registered in year to 31 March 2011.

Trading profits, excluding IT revenues, were up 25% on the prior year; over 4,500 new clients opened accounts in the year; average daily trade numbers were up 56% on the previous year; and expansion in WorldSpreads existing and new overseas markets continued. The company however reported an operating loss from continuing operations before stock option compensation: €0.64m (£0.56m) (2010: Operating profit before stock compensation of €3.00m, £2.64m). The main reason for the loss was a big increase in spending on infrastructure and marketing.

‘The year in question was one of ‘investment for long-term growth’. We have initiated an aggressive sales and marketing strategy both in the UK and in carefully selected European markets under the Group’s own brand name, as well as committing meaningful investment to the systems, people and other resources required to both manage risk and develop the infrastructure to support this next stage of the Group’s expansion.’

During the year under review WorldSpreads has opened five new branches in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal. The company described the year under review as one of ‘investment for long-term growth.’

‘Our rebuilding and repositioning work is close to completion. It is our firm view that we have created the ideal foundation for sustainable, controlled and high quality growth in the coming years,’ the group said.

WorldSpreads has further added that the persistent market volatility has been positive for both trading activity and new client acquisition, and with the strong pipeline of new opportunities, both in the United Kingdom and overseas, the Board is looking forward to the remainder of this year with confidence.