LONDON (Alliance News) - London Capital Group Holdings PLC Thursday said revenue "accelerated" during the fourth quarter, with GBP13.9 million at the end of the third quarter and the balance of GBP8.6 million in the final three months of 2014.
In a statement, the online provider of spread betting and contracts-for-difference, said it expects revenue for 2014 to be GBP22.5 million, down from the GBP25.2 million reported for continuing operations in the prior year.
"Trading volumes and net revenue picked up in the fourth quarter, with the groups under new management responding well to the wider volatility in global markets - both in equities and commodities - continuing a trend that began at the tail end of the third quarter," Charles-Henri Sabet, executive chairman, said in a statement.
"Underlying trading profitability ended the year in positive territory, providing early confirmation that the building blocks are in place from a newly installed management to continue to drive growth as the new financial year progresses," Sabet added.
The group said it expects full-year adjusted pretax profit to be in the region of GBP300,000, a significant drop from the GBP2.2 million reported for continuing operations in the prior year.
Adjusted pretax profit is stated before recognising a small credit in relation to share-based payments, impairment of goodwill of GBP8.0 million, non-recurring restructuring costs of GBP1.4 million and a credit relating to the Financial Ombudsman Service claims provision which is no longer required of GBP0.6 million.
At the year end, the outstanding claims provision over commission rebating errors that mean the group must repay clients' losses and interest was about GBP500,000, down from GBP4.7 million in the prior year, according to the group, with the payment of new claims still on-going.
"We anticipate that volatility within the equities, commodities and foreign exchange markets will continue into the new financial year, although at this stage it is too early to predict the extent to this period of volatility, while we as a group will remain steadfast in the pursuit of growth in line with our chosen strategy in new and existing markets," Sabet said.
London Capital Group shares were down 0.6% at 41.24 pence on Thursday.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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