16
April 2024
Plus500
Ltd.
("Plus500", the "Company" or
together with its subsidiaries the "Group")
Q1 2024 Trading
Update
Further outstanding
performance delivered
FY 2024 tracking ahead of
market expectations
Plus500, a global multi-asset
fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading
platforms, announces today the following trading update for the
three months ended 31 March 2024.
David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500,
commented:
"Thanks to our established
competitive advantages, continued strategic progress and robust
financial position, Plus500 generated another set of strong
operational and financial results during the period.
We continued to deliver against our
strategic roadmap; expanding into new
markets, developing new products and deepening relationships
with our customers. In the US futures market,
our B2B (Institutional) business will soon launch an innovative new
technological offering and we have secured an additional full
clearing membership to further enhance our clearing services. Our
B2C (Retail) business is performing extremely well, ahead of
management's expectations, and its contribution to the recruitment
of new customers is already not insignificant.
As a diversified, global business
with a clear and proven strategy, Plus500 is well positioned to
continue delivering strong results and attractive returns to its
shareholders."
Financial Key Performance Indicators
(unaudited):
|
Q1 2024
|
Q1
2023
|
Change %
(Q1 24 vs Q1
23)
|
Q4
2023
|
Change %
(Q1 24 vs Q4
23)
|
Revenue
|
$215.6m
|
$207.9m
|
4%
|
$189.6m
|
14%
|
EBITDA[1]
|
$102.6m
|
$100.9m
|
2%
|
$86.1m
|
19%
|
EBITDA Margin
|
48%
|
49%
|
(2%)
|
45%
|
7%
|
Operational Key Performance Indicators
(unaudited):
|
Q1 2024
|
Q1
2023
|
Change %
(Q1 24 vs Q1
23)
|
Q4
2023
|
Change %
(Q1 24 vs Q4
23)
|
New Customers[2]
|
31,949
|
28,201
|
13%
|
19,855
|
61%
|
Active Customers[3]
|
134,745
|
137,053
|
(2%)
|
117,800
|
14%
|
ARPU[4]
|
$1,600
|
$1,517
|
5%
|
$1,610
|
(1%)
|
AUAC[5]
|
$1,320
|
$1,381
|
(4%)
|
$1,582
|
(17%)
|
Highlights:
·
Plus500 delivered another period of excellent
operational and financial performance, consistent with the Group's
strategic roadmap, enabled by the strength of the Group's
multi-channel marketing approach, its industry-leading proprietary
technology, intuitive trading platforms and robust financial
position.
·
In January 2024, the Group secured a clearing
membership with Eurex Clearing AG (Eurex), the clearing house for
the entire suite of products traded at Eurex Exchange, the leading
European derivatives exchange.
·
Reflecting this strategic progress, revenue in Q1
2024 increased to $215.6m compared to $207.9m in Q1
2023.
· Customer Income[6], a key measure of the Group's
underlying performance, increased by 7% to $169.6m in Q1 2024
compared to $157.8m in Q1 2023. Customer Trading
Performance[7]
during Q1 2024 stood at $30.6m (Q1 2023: $50.1m). The Company
continues to expect that the contribution from Customer Trading
Performance will be broadly neutral over time.
·
EBITDA in Q1 2024 increased to $102.6m compared to
$100.9m in Q1 2023, equating to an EBITDA margin of 48% (Q1 2023:
49%).
·
The Group remained debt-free and maintained a
strong financial position during the period, with cash balances of
over $985m as at 31 March 2024 (31 March 2023: over $950m), having returned
approximately $365m to shareholders by way of dividends and share
buybacks during FY 2023.
· The
Board of Directors of Plus500 (the 'Board') remains confident about
the Group's prospects and expects that performance for FY 2024 will
be ahead of current market expectations[8], driven by the Group's focus on
deepening customer engagement which has led to improved customer
longevity and increased activity levels.
Strategic update
Plus500 continued to deliver
progress against its strategic roadmap during the period, further
developing the Group's position as a diversified, global
multi-asset fintech group. Highlights from the period
include:
·
In the US futures market, the B2B (Institutional)
business continued to perform well and will soon launch a new,
innovative technological offering for its customers. The new
offering will further enhance Plus500's position in the US futures
market and is expected to enable the continued success of the Group
in this market.
· The
B2C (Retail) business performed extremely
well during the period and continued to track ahead of management's
expectations. Its contribution to new customers at a Group level is
already not insignificant, reflecting the strength of its unique
'omni set solution' which allows customers to onboard, deposit and
trade through one platform.
· The Group's
business in the UAE saw an increase in new and retained customers
during Q1 2024, with growth in revenue and profit contribution. As
stated previously, Plus500 will continue to invest in this
important, high-growth market in order to maximise the potential
the Group believes it can deliver.
·
In recent years, Plus500 has
introduced new technologies to enhance its customer engagement
efforts. As evidence of further delivery against the Group's
strategic roadmap, these new technologies have improved the Group's
monetisation, activation and long-term retention capabilities and
have enhanced the quality of Plus500's customer cohorts, driving
greater performance.
·
The Group launched an upgraded version of its
'Trading Academy' during the period, which now offers enhanced
educational materials across multiple formats including 'how-to'
trading videos, informative articles and webinars.
Trading update
Plus500 delivered strong financial
and operational results for Q1 2024. Driven by the
scalability and agility of the Group's proprietary technology and
its diversified business model, revenue and EBITDA increased
year-on-year to $215.6m (Q1 2023: $207.9m) and $102.6m (Q1 2023:
$100.9m), respectively. Within Group revenue, trading income
was $200.2m and interest income was $15.4m.
The Group onboarded 31,949 New
Customers in Q1 2024 (Q1 2023: 28,201), representing growth of 13%
year-on-year, enabled by the Group's marketing technology and the
strength of its intuitive trading platforms. Active Customers stood
at 134,745 in Q1 2024 (Q1 2023: 137,053).
Customer deposits were
$0.7bn (Q1 2023:
$0.6bn) and the
average deposit per Active Customer increased by 27% to
approximately $5,400 in Q1 2024 (Q1 2023: approximately $4,250),
highlighting customers' on-going loyalty and confidence in
Plus500's technology, diverse product portfolio and excellent
customer experience.
ARPU increased by 5% to $1,600 in Q1
2024 (Q1 2023: $1,517), reflecting the investments that Plus500 has
made over recent years in attracting and retaining higher value
customers for longer periods of time. Deepening customer engagement
remains a key part of the Group's strategic roadmap, alongside
launching new products, entering new markets, and expanding
Plus500's offering in existing markets.
AUAC was broadly flat during Q1 2024
at $1,320 (Q1 2023: $1,381), and fell materially quarter-on-quarter
by 17%, reflecting the Group's ability to optimise its marketing capabilities
whilst focusing on maintaining attractive returns on
investments.
Financial position
Plus500's strong financial position
and cash generative business model, with cash balances of over
$985m as at 31 March 2024 (31 December 2023: $906.7m), enable the
Group to make focused strategic investments as part of its
disciplined capital allocation policy, and ultimately, drive
Plus500's strong financial performance.
Shareholder returns
During Q1 2024 the Company
repurchased 1,483,445 shares, at an average price of £17.66, for a
total cash consideration of $33.3m. As at 31 March 2024, the
remaining number of the Company's ordinary shares in issue was
78,234,595.
Outlook
Plus500's strategic roadmap is
designed to position the Group for key growth opportunities,
including new products, services and markets, as well as the
expansion of its core OTC[9] product
offering, share dealing, futures and options on futures products
and by deepening its customer engagement and retention initiatives.
These growth opportunities will be accessed by the Group's ongoing
focus on developing its position as a global multi-asset fintech
group, and will be achieved by further organic investments in
technology, marketing and people, as well as by actively targeting
bolt-on acquisitions in selected markets where attractive
opportunities exist. Reflecting this progress, the Board expects
that the FY 2024 results will be ahead of current market
expectations.
For further details
Plus500 Ltd.
|
|
Elad Even-Chen, Chief
Financial Officer
Owen Jones, Head of Investor
Relations
|
+972 4 8189503
+44 (0) 7551 654208
ir@Plus500.com
|
Dentons Global Advisors
|
|
James
Melville-Ross
James Styles
Methuselah
Tanyanyiwa
|
+44 (0)20 7664 5095
Plus500@dentonsglobaladvisors.com
|
About Plus500
Plus500 is a global multi-asset
fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading
platforms. Plus500 offers customers a range of trading products,
including OTC ("Over-the-Counter" products, namely Contracts for
Difference (CFDs)), share dealing, as well as futures and options
on futures.
The Group retains operating licences
and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel,
New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the Seychelles, the United
States, Estonia, Japan, the UAE and the Bahamas and through its OTC
product portfolio, offers more than 2,500 different underlying
global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices,
commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies.
Customers of the Group can trade its OTC products in more than 60
countries and in 30 languages.
Plus500's trading platforms are
accessible from multiple operating systems (iOS, Android and
Windows) and web browsers. Customer care is, and has always been,
integral to Plus500. As such, OTC customers cannot be subject to
negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited
basis for OTC trading platform users and sophisticated risk
management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged
exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while
limiting capital losses.
Plus500 shares have a premium
listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol:
PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index.
www.plus500.com.
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.
Forward looking statements
This announcement contains
statements that are or may be forward-looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical facts included in
this announcement may be forward-looking statements, including
statements that relate to the Group's future prospects,
developments and strategies. The Company does not accept any
responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information
reported by the press or other media, nor the fairness or
appropriateness of any forecasts, views or opinions express by the
press or other media regarding the Group. The Company makes no
representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness or
reliability of any such information or publication.
Forward-looking statements are
identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe",
"targets", "expects", "aim", "anticipate", "project", "would",
"could", "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan", "will" or
the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions,
including references to assumptions. The forward-looking statements
in this announcement are based on current expectations and are
subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that may
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward looking statements include, but are not
limited to, those described in the Risk Management Framework
section of the Company's most recent Annual Report. These
forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions
regarding the present and future business strategies of the Group
and the environment in which it is and will operate in the future.
All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements
attributed to the Company or any persons acting on its behalf are
expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement
above. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of
this announcement. Except as required by law, regulatory
requirement, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rules, neither the Company nor any other party intends
to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.