By Victor Golovtchenko
IG Group (LONDON:IGG) posted a trading update on its performance for the first quarter of its financial 2015, which ended on the 31st of August. Revenues throughout the period totaled £106.0 million, which is higher by 24 per cent when compared to last year and by about 5.5 per cent when compared to the average quarterly revenue for fiscal 2015 which ended on the 31st of May 2015.
The company highlighted in its announcement that it did rather well during what is a traditionally weaker period for financial markets activity, primarily due to elevated volatility. The Greek Euro Zone membership turmoil and the Chinese financial markets turmoil have been cited as the main reasons for this. The second half of August was the most active for the company’s clients.
Looking at the key metrics for the performance of the company, revenues per client increased by 3.6 per cent, while active client growth numbers were more than impressive at 19 per cent when compared to last year. Looking at a quarter-on-quarter comparison the number of active traders increased by almost 5 per cent.
Looking at new client numbers, the company has not provided full figures, however it stated that “client first trades in the quarter were ahead of the same period in the prior year by over 50%”. The increases has been attributed to higher market volatility and increased effectiveness of the marketing efforts of IG Group (LON:IGG).
IG Group, Revenues by region, © Finance Magnates
Details about revenue distribution across different geographical regions has shown more detailed revenue streams for IG Group (LON:IGG). The broker continues its strong performance on home turf, in Ireland and in the UK, where client numbers increased year-on-year by 16 per cent, while average revenue per user has grown by 5.8 per cent.
The only region which underperformed somewhat was Europe, where economic stagnation is taking its toll on client activity. While client numbers have continued rising, posting a more than impressive 18 per cent growth, the average revenue per customer has dropped 4.4 per cent when compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2015.
The Australian business of the firm has continued on a solid growth trajectory with active clients increasing 20 per cent year-on-year, while the average revenue per client has remained more or less flat, growing less than a percentage point.
The most vibrant business unit of IG Group was its 'rest of the world' geography, where revenues per client increased by 20 per cent while client numbers have risen 28 per cent for the past year. These figures bring a combined increase in the company’s revenues from its operations in this segment to a growth of 54 per cent or £13.9 million.