26th May 2006 07:01
IG Group Holdings plc26 May 2006 26 May 2006 IG GROUP HOLDINGS PLC Pre-close Update IG Group Holdings plc ("IG" or "the Group") issues the following trading updatein respect of the year ending 31 May 2006. Throughout the financial year trading has been strong. Revenues, numbers ofclients trading and numbers of transactions have all shown substantialprogressive increases. The Board anticipates that it will report revenue inexcess of £85m (2005: £62m) and EBITDA* in excess of £50m (2005: £35m),representing increases of at least 37% and 42%, respectively. IG's UK financial spread betting business has seen a substantial increase in therate of recruitment of clients. The number of clients recruited in the secondhalf of the financial year will exceed that in the first half by more than 50%.Annual revenue growth for this business is anticipated to exceed 30%. The Group's Australian business continues to achieve sustained high levels ofgrowth and will report year on year revenue growth comfortably in excess of100%. IG's London-based CFD business is anticipated to report growth of approximately60% and has substantially increased its worldwide network of introducers duringthe year. The Group's sports division continues to make good progress and will reportrevenue growth of approximately 30%. During the final quarter of the financial year the Group implemented a number ofits planned initiatives. Its Singapore office received its licence from theMonetary Authority of Singapore and commenced trading in April. The Group'sinnovative sports fixed odds offering, extrabet.com, was launched in late March. None of these initiatives is expected to deliver material revenue in thecurrent financial year and it is too early to assess their full potential. TheGroup will provide an update on the progress of these initiatives when itreports its preliminary results on 24 July 2006. Nat le Roux has indicated to the Board that he wishes to step down from hisposition as Chief Executive, which he has held for slightly over four years, inorder to pursue other interests. He will remain on the Board as non-executivedeputy chairman and, in addition, will continue to work as a consultant to theGroup for, on average, one day per week. He will primarily assist with ongoingoverseas initiatives. Tim Howkins, who has been Finance Director of the Group for approximately sevenyears and has worked closely with Nat in formulating and implementing thestrategy of the Group, will succeed Nat as Chief Executive. The Board hasappointed an executive search agency to seek a replacement Finance Director andthe succession of Chief Executive will take place once a suitable candidate isin place. A further announcement will be made once an appointment has beenmade. Jonathan Davie, Chairman of IG, said: "During Nat le Roux's four years as ChiefExecutive, IG Group's profits have grown at a compound annual rate of more than35% and we have put in place the building blocks to enable us to address aworldwide client base. Tim Howkins has played a major part in the strategicplanning and management of the company over this period and is ideally qualifiedto take the business forward. I am delighted that Nat has agreed to remain onthe Board as non-executive deputy chairman." Nat le Roux and Tim Howkins will hold a dial-in conference call for investorsand analysts at 9.30am UK time on 26 May 2006. Those wishing to register forthis conference call should contact Nick Henderson at Financial Dynamics on +44(0)20 7269 7114 or at [email protected]. The Board's strategic objectives are twofold. First, to continue to deliverhigh levels of growth in earnings per share, achieved, inter alia, by increasingthe size and breadth of the client base both geographically and in terms of theinstruments and underlying markets traded. Second, to continue to maintain thelow level of volatility of revenues and earnings achieved over the last threeyears by means of strong risk management policies. The Board believes that ithas achieved good progress in the past year and that it is increasingly wellplaced to continue to deliver on these objectives. The Board is confident ofthe Group's prospects as it enters the next financial year. * EBITDA represents earnings before exceptional administrative costs,depreciation, amortisation charges, taxation, interest payable on debt andinterest receivable on corporate cash balances and includes interest receivableon clients' money net of interest payable to clients For further information please contact: IG Group 020 7896 0011Nat le RouxTim Howkins Financial Dynamics 020 7269 7200Robert BailhacheNick Henderson www.iggroup.com Notes for editors IG Group Holdings plc offers speculative betting and trading opportunities inequities, equity indices, currencies, metals, commodities, interest rates,sports, politics and other markets. It has offices in London, Melbourne andSingapore and clients in approximately 100 countries. The Group has a number ofbrands. IG Index is the UK's leading provider of financial spread betting. IGMarkets offers CFDs to a worldwide client base. Binarybet.com is the marketleader in binary betting, an innovative form of short term betting on financialand sports markets, which IG introduced to the UK market. Extrabet.com offersclients conventional fixed odds betting on sport and financial markets, but withthe ability to close their bets in order to take profits or cut losses beforethe end of the event being bet on. The Group offers more than 10,000 discretefinancial markets, the widest range of any spread betting or CFD providerworldwide. Almost 90% of client transactions are done on-line using the Group'sInternet, mobile or direct market access platforms. The Group derivessignificant global revenues from arrangements with third parties includingstockbrokers, financial advisors and portfolio management companies, whointroduce clients to the Group. Tim Howkins is 43 years old. He joined IG in 1999 as Finance Director, sincewhen he has played an instrumental role in the development of the Group. He hasworked closely with the current Chief Executive in formulating and implementingthe strategic plans of the Group. Tim is qualified as a chartered accountantand member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and has a first class degreein mathematics and computer science. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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