The chief executive of online share trading site IG Group has branded the business “resilient”, after it posted a jump in pre-tax profits during a time when markets were extremely volatile.
According to a trading update published today (24 January), the company saw profits before tax rise by 6.7 per cent for the six months ending November, reaching £105.2m from the £98.6m posted at the same time in 2015.
Net trading revenue also increased during the period, climbing by 14 per cent to £245m, which the chief executive of IG Peter Hetherington said was a record for the company.
Mr Hetherington said the group reached a new high in active client numbers and was able to attract the next generation of traders, adding it was “another good six months for the business”.
“The business once again proved the resilience of its operating model and its people, as it dealt exceptionally well with the short term volatility in the financial markets, caused by two significant political events.”
He also said IG is planning to evolve and refine its offering to clients by shifting its emphasis to active financial trading and investing, and broadening the relationship with clients.
IG also recently received its licence from the Financial Conduct Authority to offer an investment service to clients in partnership with BlackRock.
The group said that it plans to launch its “smart” portfolio exchange traded fund in the “near future”.
In December, the Financial Conduct Authority announced it was cracking down on spread betting firms that sell “contract for difference” products to retail consumers - like IG.
At that time RBC Capital Markets analyst Peter Lenardos predicted it would negatively affect the share prices of companies such as IG Group and CMC Markets which provided these services despite the fact they operate “to the highest standards in the industry”.
