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- Significant additional shareholder returns of $175m announced today
Dubai, UAE: Plus500, a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms, today announces its preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2023.
David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented: “Three years ago, Plus500 presented its new strategic plan to become a global, multi-asset fintech group, by expanding into new markets, developing new products and deepening relationships with customers.
2023 saw further progress against all three strategic objectives: we expanded our US futures businesses, launched a new retail FX OTC trading platform in Japan and extended our portfolio of global regulatory licences to 13. We expanded our core product offering to include a share dealing platform, and a new line of business offering futures and options on futures. Our efforts to deepen customer relationships were enhanced by our market-leading technology, and we now have over 26 million customers registered on our platforms. During the period, we achieved a record high average deposit per active customer reflecting our on-going focus on higher value customers and the intuitive nature and reliability of our market-leading technology.
All of this strategic progress has led to our FY 2023 results being significantly ahead of market expectations and today we are pleased to announce additional shareholder returns of $175.0m, comprising $100.0m in new share buyback programmes and $75.0m of dividends.”
Financial highlights
| H2 2023* | H2 2022* | Change % | FY 2023* | FY 2022 | Change % | |
| Revenue | $357.7m | $321.2m | 11% | $726.2m | $832.6m | (13%) |
| EBITDA[1] | $166.4m | $148.5m | 12% | $340.5m | $453.8m | (25%) |
| EBITDA Margin % | 47% | 46% | 2% | 47% | 55% | (15%) |
| Cash balance at period end | $906.7m | $930.2m | (3%) | $906.7m | $930.2m | (3%) |
*Unaudited
Robust financial performance enabled by Plus500’s strong market position
- Group revenue was $726.2m, comprising trading income of $674.3m and interest income of $51.9m
- EBITDA was $340.5m, with an EBITDA margin of 47%
- Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) was $3.17
- 70% of the Group’s costs were variable in nature (FY 2022: 70%) providing it with a significant competitive advantage and highlighting Plus500’s lean and flexible business model
- The Company’s balance sheet remained extremely strong with cash balances of $906.7m as at 31 December 2023 with no loans or debt
Significant shareholder returns of $175.0m announced today
- New shareholder returns of $175.0m announced today, in line with the Group’s clear and disciplined capital allocation framework, reflecting its enduring financial strength and the Company‘s Board of Directors (the "Board") continued confidence in its prospects
- These shareholder returns comprise new share buyback programmes of $100.0m, as well as total dividends of $75.0m
- During FY 2023, Plus500 announced approximately $350m of total shareholder returns, comprising share buyback programmes of $257.5m, including $127.5m through the repurchase of shares executed on 13 June 2023, and total dividends of $90.0m
- Since the commencement of Plus500’s initial share buyback programme in 2017 and up to 31 December 2023, the Company has purchased 36,651,165 ordinary shares, amounting to a total of $0.6bn, excluding the amount announced today, at an average share price of £13.52
Operational highlights
| H2 2023 | H2 2022 | Change % | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | Change % | |
| New Customers[2] | 40,495 | 49,274 | (18%) | 90,944 | 106,549 | (15%) |
| Active Customers[3] | 158,846 | 177,946 | (11%) | 233,037 | 280,769 | (17%) |
| AUAC[4] | $1,487 | $1,527 | (3%) | $1,489 | $1,481 | 1% |
| ARPU[5] | $2,252 | $1,805 | 25% | $3,116 | $2,966 | 5% |
Strategic progress in new markets
- Strong progress made in the US futures market, as evidenced by the increase in new customers in both B2B (Institutional) and B2C (Retail) businesses, as well as through additional memberships being secured with the Futures Industry Association (FIA) and Eurex
- In Japan, the Group launched a localised trading platform for retail traders which is gaining good traction
- During 2023, Plus500 added two new licences, in the UAE and the Bahamas, bringing the global portfolio of regulatory licences to 13
New products and technology underpinning the Group’s growth
- Launched ‘Plus500 Futures’, a new proprietary trading platform designed for the US retail market to trade in futures, bringing innovative trading solutions to the futures market
- Plus500 rolled out AI and big data models to develop new retention technologies supported by enhanced customer engagement methodologies
Significant resources committed to improving customer retention
- Significant customer progress was demonstrated during FY 2023 with a record ARPU achieved of $3,116 (FY 2022: $2,966)
- Customer deposits increased to $2.4 billion (FY 2022: $2.3 billion), with the average deposit per Active Customer growing to a record high of approximately $10,300 (FY 2022: approximately $8,000)
- In FY 2023, over 87% of the Group's OTC revenue was generated from customers trading on mobile or tablet devices (FY 2022: over 85%). This highlights Plus500's industry leadership when it comes to mobile-first services and its relentless focus on innovation
Outlook
- Given Plus500's significant strategic, operational, and financial progress over recent years, and the Group's robust financial position, the Board remains confident about the Group's future prospects
About Plus500
Plus500 is a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms. Plus500 offers customers a range of trading products, including OTC (“Over-the-Counter” products, namely Contracts for Difference (CFDs)), share dealing, as well as futures and options on futures.
The Group retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the Seychelles, the United States, Estonia, Japan, the UAE and the Bahamas and through its OTC product portfolio, offers more than 2,500 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of the Group can trade its OTC products in more than 60 countries and in 30 languages.
Plus500’s trading platforms are accessible from multiple operating systems (iOS, Android and Windows) and web browsers. Customer care is, and has always been, integral to Plus500. As such, OTC customers cannot be subject to negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for OTC trading platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses.
Plus500 shares have a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. www.plus500.com.
[1] EBITDA - Revenue (trading income and interest income) minus operating expenses plus depreciation and amortisation
[2] New Customers - Customers depositing for the first time
[3] Active Customers - Customers who made at least one real money trade during the period
[4] AUAC - Average User Acquisition Cost
[5] ARPU - Average Revenue Per User
