Retail Forex and CFD broker Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS) today announced its preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Revenue in 2023 was $726.2 million (FY 2022: $832.6 million), consisting of trading income of $674.3 million and interest income of $51.9 million. EBITDA for FY 2023 was $340.5 million (FY 2022: $453.8 million) with an EBITDA margin of 47% (FY 2022: 55%). The result reflects lower levels of trading activity seen in global financial markets during the year.
Customer revenue was $600.1 million in FY 2023 (FY 2022: $639.6 million) and customer transaction yield was $74.2 million (FY 2022: $193.0 million) . The Group expects the contribution from Customer Transaction Performance to be generally neutral over time.
Net income in 2023 was $271.4 million (FY 2022: $370.4 million) and basic earnings per share were $3.17 (FY 2022: $3.81).
Net finance costs (income) were $0.2 million in 2023 (FY 2022: ($23.9 million)), due to foreign exchange gains and losses as the Group manages its exposure to a range of functional currencies against US dollar. A significant portion of the Group’s cash is held in US dollars in order to reduce the impact of currency fluctuations on finance costs over time.
As at 31 December 2023, the Group’s total assets on the balance sheet were $1,004.7 million (FY 2022: $1,010.0 million), with equity of $699.8 million, representing approximately 70% of the balance sheet.
The Group has remained debt-free since inception and had a balance of cash and cash equivalents at year-end 2023 of $906.7 million (FY 2022: $930.2 million).
In 2023, Plus500 acquired two new regulatory licences, in the United Arab Emirates and the Bahamas, which together bring the Group’s global portfolio of regulatory licenses to 13. This global portfolio provides a significant source of competitive advantage and intrinsic value for Plus500, both in monetary terms and functional sense.
The UAE represents an important and growing market for the Group and its operations in this region are fully operational and growing rapidly. The Group’s customer base in the UAE is growing and Plus500’s local offering benefits from a better understanding of that market. The Group will continue to develop its local offering tailored to the UAE market.
Building on its success in securing new regulatory approvals, the Group will continue to target new regulatory approvals worldwide in 2024 and beyond to support its strategic objective to enter new markets and offer new products. The Group’s experience in obtaining new regulatory permits places it in an extremely good position to successfully execute this objective.
Since the acquisition of Cunningham Commodities, a regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and Cunningham Trading Systems, a technology trading platform provider, Plus500 has secured full clearing memberships with the CME Group exchanges, as well as the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX ).
In addition, the Group recently secured a clearing subscription to Eurex Clearing AG. This major milestone followed the recent acquisition of a primary membership of the Futures Industry Association (FIA).