Q3 Trading Update

RNS Number : 0204V

Plus500 Limited

31 October 2017

 

31 October 2017

Plus500 Ltd.

("Plus500" or "the Company")

Q3 Trading Update

Record revenue and strong EBITDA margin

Plus500, a leading online service provider for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally, today provides a trading update for the three and nine months ended 30 September 2017.

Plus500 is pleased to report a record quarter and the Board now believes that the Company is ahead of market expectations for the year as a whole. In the three months ended 30 September 2017, the Company's revenue was $116.5 million, an increase of 50% compared to the same period last year. For the nine months ended 30 September 2017, revenue was $304.9 million, an increase of 29% compared to the same period last year.

Key customer and revenue metrics for the periods ended 30 September 2017 were as follows:

	FY2016	3 months to 30 Sept*		%Growth	9 months to 30 Sept*		%Growth
		2016	2017		2016	2017
Revenue	$327.9m	$77.5m	$116.5m	50%	$236.3m	$304.9m	29%
Number of new customers1	104,432	25,083	42,492	69%	82,012	96,373	18%
Number of active customers2	155,956	69,989	94,610	35%	131,346	160,090	22%
ARPU3	$2,103	$1,107	$1,232	11%	$1,799	$1,905	6%
AUAC4	$1,195	$1,300	$689	-47%	$1,320	$771	-42%

*Unaudited

[1] A customer who has deposited real money into their own account for the first time

[2] A customer who makes at least one trade using real money on the Trading Platform during the relevant period

[3] Average revenue per user

[4] Average user acquisition cost 

Overview of trading

Plus500 has again reported record numbers of new customers for the quarter (an increase of 69% from Q3 2016) and a record number of active customers (an increase of 35% from Q3 2016). The Company's efficient marketing activity and retention initiatives led to an increased number of new customer sign ups, customer re-activations and high customer trading levels during the quarter.  In addition, there has been an increased contribution from the trading of new financial instruments and exchanges.

In the first nine months of 2017, ARPU has increased and stood at $1,905 compared to $1,799 in the same period last year reflecting the progress in adding higher value customers. 

AUAC fell to a level of $689 in Q3 2017 compared to $1,300 in Q3 2016, and $771 for the nine months ended 30 September 2017.  This reduction reflects the Company's efficient marketing strategies for acquiring new customers and has been an important factor in its improved EBITDA, which increased from approximately $33 million in Q3 2016 to approximately $70 million in Q3 2017 with EBITDA margin increasing from 43% in Q3 2016 to 60% in Q3 2017. Net profit for the period ended 30 September 2017 was $143.2 million, up 103% compared to $70.6 million in the period ended 30 September 2016.

Plus500's cash balances increased from $117.0 million at 30 September 2016 to $203.9 million at 30 September 2017.

The Company continues to invest in compliance and make those adjustments necessary to its operations to meet new regulatory requirements. Plus500 and its subsidiaries are now regulated by six different regulators: FCA in the United Kingdom, ASIC in Australia, CySEC in Cyprus, ISA in Israel, FMA in New Zealand and FSB in South Africa.

The share buy back programme of $27.21 million that was announced on 7 August 2017 shall remain open through 1 February 2018. To the extent that the buy back has not been exhausted by 1 February 2018, the balance will be rolled forward into future shareholder return as part of our payout ratio.

Outlook

Looking ahead to 2018, the Board believes that Plus500 is well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities such as new licences and new instruments, whilst retaining its competitive advantage derived from its lean cost structure and technology leadership; these factors are expected to assist in mitigating the impact of any regulatory changes.

Plus500 has attracted a record number of new customers and active customers so far this year through its efficient investment in marketing and its retention initiatives, providing good momentum for the final quarter of 2017 and going into 2018.

Accordingly, the Board believes that the Company is on track to report results which are ahead of market expectations for the year as a whole.

Asaf Elimelech, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented: 

"Our results for the third quarter continued the strong progress of the first half, with record revenue and a record number of new and active customers. With this positive momentum, we are on track to achieve results which are ahead of our expectations for the year as a whole."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 

Enquiries

Plus500
Elad Even-Chen, Chief Financial Officer	[phone] [e-mail]
Liberum - Nomad and Broker
Clayton Bush, Neil Elliot, Josh Hughes	[phone]
Berenberg (Joint Broker)
Chris Bowman, Mark Whitmore	[phone]
MHP Communications
Reg Hoare, Tim Rowntree, Kelsey Traynor	[phone]

About Plus500

Plus500 operates an online trading platform for retail customers to trade CFDs internationally over more than 2,200 different underlying global financial instruments comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, crypto currencies and foreign exchange. Retail customers of Plus500 can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 32 languages. The trading platform is also accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, smartphones (iOS, Android and Windows Phone), tablets (iOS, Android and Surface), Apple Watch and web browsers).

Plus500 retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand and South Africa.  Customer care is integral to Plus500: customers cannot be subject to negative balances, there are no commissions on trades. Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options.  A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leverage and stop losses to help customers protect profits and limit capital losses.

www.plus500.com

 

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