Spread better IG Group’s current trading strong

LONDON (Reuters) – The country’s biggest spread-betting company, IG Group (IGG.L: Quote, Profile, Research), which relisted in April, said current trading was strong as it met forecasts with a 40 percent rise in underlying annual profit on Monday.

“Since the end of the financial year all parts of the business have performed well and our volumes have been strong,” Chief Executive Nat le Roux said, adding that July 7, when four bombs exploded in London, was IG’s busiest ever day.

IG allows investors to speculate on currencies, interest rates, shares and indexes. On July 7, the FTSE 100 index briefly dived more than 200 points or 4 percent.

IG reported earnings of 35.1 million pounds before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year to the end of May. Turnover rose 25 percent to 62.3 million pounds.

Le Roux said that over the course of the year the balance of its core British spread betting business had continued to shift away from stock indices into individual shares, currencies and commodity markets. “For example, in some recent months we have seen more business in crude oil than in FTSE,” he said.

IG was refloated in April at 120 pence per share in a listing that valued the company at 393 million pounds, having been taken private by its management in 2003 in a 143 million pounds deal backed by private equity firm CVC.

At 0715 GMT, IG shares were up 2.7 percent at 152 pence.

Looking ahead, le Roux said he wanted to open at least one sales office in Asia in the coming year to market foreign exchange and other products to the Chinese-speaking market.

Le Roux flagged up rapid growth in IG’s Australian business where turnover rose 150 percent to 3.8 million pounds.

IG was founded in 1974 by businessman and Conservative Party backer Stuart Wheeler and first floated in London in 2000.

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