CMC Markets PLC (LSE:CMCX) said increased market activity at the end of September led to improved client trading volumes.
The trading platform operator issued a trading update covering the six months to the end of September – the first half of its fiscal year. It reiterated full-year guidance of £250mln-£280mln of net operating income after a first half in which it racked up net operating income of roughly £126mln.
The first-half net trading revenue is expected to be in the region of £100mln, roughly half the level of the year before when markets were extremely volatile as the world got to grips with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Non-leveraged net trading revenue is expected to be about £24mln in the six months to the end of September versus £26mln in the same period of last year, representing 19% of group net operating income (H1 2021: 11%).
Overall client assets under management (AUM) remains near record levels. Active clients are moderately lower compared to the first half of the previous fiscal year, but the monthly trading client numbers continue to remain at similar levels to those reported earlier in the year, CMC said.
"We closed the first six months with a pickup in market volatility and client trading volumes following what was a more subdued environment from the start of the year. More importantly, the big event for the company was the acquisition of the ANZ stockbroking clients. This transaction, when completed (over a 12-18 month period), will boost our non-leveraged business with over 500,000 investing clients with total assets in excess of AUD$45bn,” said Lord Cruddas, the chief executive officer of CMC Markets.
READ CMC Markets acquires ANZ share investing client base
“Our non-leveraged business continues to offer the greatest growth potential and now represents approximately 50% of our business in Australia and near 20% of the business overall. This is the highest proportional level since we launched our non-leveraged platforms. This is even before we integrate the ANZ transaction. We are on a fast track to diversification, using our existing platform technology to win B2B [business to business] and B2C [business to consumer] non-leveraged business. This will be further boosted with the launch of our new UK investment platform, which will offer both B2C and B2B potential,” he added.