Preliminary 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.”
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
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
Pragati Malik
MCS Action FZ LLC
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