Spread betting firm CMC Markets PLC (LON:CMCX) saw profits rise in the year to the end of March as the number of trades shot up.
In its first set of results since listing in London, the company, which will soon see its shares included in the FTSE 250 index, saw headline profit before tax rise 20% to £62.9mln from £51.9mln the year before. Reported profit before tax, which includes exceptional items, rose 23% to £53.4mln from £43.5mln.
Net operating income rose 18% to £169.4mln from £143.6mln, as the value of trades rose 27% year-on-year while the number of trades increased by 50% to 66.8mln.
The number of active clients rose to 57,329 from 50,303 the year before, while revenue per client nudged up 4% to £2,828 from £2,716 the previous year.
Underlying earnings per share rose 23% to 18p from 14.6p but the company ramped up the full-year dividend at a much faster rate, by 56% to 8.9p from 5.7p.
“Our clear strategy to provide our clients with the best trading platform, superior service and competitive pricing, with a strong focus on innovation, has delivered another strong performance, with profit before tax up by over 20%, but we're not standing still,” declared Peter Cruddas, CMC’s chief executive officer.
“We continue to add new products, open new offices and offer new features and tools through our award-winning Next Generation trading platform. Despite a recent easing of trading activity, with these developments and our excellent team, I am confident that CMC will continue to deliver further strong growth," Cruddas added.
Shares were up 3.6% at 286p in a falling market in early trading. The shares floated in February of this year at 240p a throw.