By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – Plus500 (LON:PLUSP), the FTSE 250 listed trading platform, today announced a quarterly drop in revenue, although that was offset by a record number of active customers.
Revenue was just $203.2 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 36% from $316.6 million during the same period a year ago. EBITDA was down 47% to $121.7 million.
Despite a decline from the same period a year ago, revenue increased 121% from Q4, which the company says was driven by continued attractive trading conditions, supported by the high quality and resilience of Plus500’s proprietary technology in managing elevated platform usage.
Record customers
The company announced a record quarterly number of active customers in Q1, adding 25% to 269,743. The number of new customers increased 78% quarter-over-quarter and average revenue per user was up 76% to $753.
“Plus500 delivered an excellent performance during Q1 2021, building on the positive momentum achieved in 2020,” said Plus 500 CEO David Zruia. “This performance has been driven by the strength and agility of our technology and its ability to respond rapidly to market developments, news events and customer requirements.”
Outlook
The company says it is well positioned to deliver a strong and consistent performance over the medium term and expects FY21 revenue and EBITDA to be moderately ahead of compiled analysts’ consensus forecasts.
There is some uncertainty regarding new rules introduced in Australia regulating CFDs that came into force in March 2021. However, Plus500 believes the anticipated revenue impact from the regulatory changes is already incorporated into consensus forecasts and they will continue to monitor the impact of the new regulations on the business.
At 11:00BST Plus500 shares were trading higher by 0.7% at £15.33.