17th Sep 2014 06:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - IG Group Holdings PLC Wednesday reported a fall in first-quarter net trading revenue, with declines across all of its geographic regions, amid quiet financial markets and continued weakness in foreign exchange activity.
In a statement, the FTSE 250 online derivatives trading company said net trading revenue - trading revenue excluding interest on segregated client funds and net of introducing broker commissions - fell to GBP85.6 million in the three months ended August 31 from GBP93.6 million in the corresponding period last year.
Net trading revenue was down 3% in the UK, where an 8% drop in active client numbers was partially offset by an increase in average revenue per client. In Europe, active client numbers grew by 9% despite the "relatively quiet" market backdrop. However, this was more than offset by a 16% fall in average revenue per client.
In Australia, where net trading revenue fell by 10%, active clients fell by 9% and revenue per client fell by 2%. In its Rest of World region, IG said continued forex market weakness hurt Japan and Singapore, where revenue was down by around 30%. This was partially offset by strong year-on-year growth in South Africa, the company added.
IG Group said it wants to continue to implement its strategy of diversification throughout the remainder of the financial year. It will continue to develop its stockbroking offering, including adding the ability for clients to use their equity assets as collateral against shorter-term leveraged trading, and commencing a targeted international roll-out.
Earlier this week, IG launched its stockbroking offering in the UK and Ireland with a range of UK, US, German, Dutch and Irish equities, exchange-traded funds and a tax-free individual savings account.
"Although this may take some time to build, it has a number of significant advantages against other offerings and is a major strategic development for IG," the company said in a statement.
"Also in September, the Swiss regulator issued the licence for IG's new sales office in Geneva and the company expects to begin trading there in the very near future," IG said.
The company said it will "progress" its licence application in Dubai later this year.
It is also applying "significant effort" to its mobile offering across the globe and to "developing and refining" its web presence.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
IG