CMC benefits from market volatility

CMC Markets, the financial trading business majority owned by the City of London’s richest man, has emerged as one of the main beneficiaries from the recent volatility in global markets.

CMC, founded by its executive chairman Peter Cruddas, whose family still controls approximately 85pc of it, saw profit before tax increase almost three times to £57.2m in the year to March, up from £21m the previous year.

The profit uplift came on the back of a 64pc rise in revenue to £181.5m for CMC, which is best known in the UK for its spread-betting business but is largely focused globally on contracts-for-difference (CFD) derivatives.

Chief executive Jim Pettigrew acknowledged the role of volatility in producing record profits but said it was difficult in such businesses to extrapolate whether it was volatility or business growth that is responsible.

He cautioned that volatility in the current year may be ‘slightly off’, but said that ‘over a five-year period it remains at decent levels’.

CMC has been expanding its global presence at a rapid rate in recent years, opening six offices in the past financial year, with Mr Pettigrew pinpointing Europe, in particular Spain and Italy, as a focus for the current year.

Tags: CMC, CMC Markets, derivatives, Peter Cruddas

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