UK trading platform IG Group tops profit forecast on market volatility

Thu, 24th Jul 2025 11:27

Annual adjusted pretax profit up 17% year-on-year

Plans for 125-million-pound share buyback

Recent Freetrade acquisition increases customer base by 137%

July 24 (Reuters) - British online trading platform IG Group reported a forecast-beating 17% rise in full-year pretax profit on Thursday, driven by a surge in trading volumes amid recent market turbulence, sending shares up more than 6%.

Firms such as IG Group and Plus500 have benefited from a pickup in trading volumes in recent months as clients rushed to adjust their portfolios in markets whipsawed by the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariff policies.

London-based IG Group has been expanding its services to address missed opportunities, becoming the first London-listed company to offer crypto buying, selling, and holding after it launched trading in the UK in June.

"We are actively looking at M&A opportunities," Chief Financial Officer Clifford Abrahams told analysts on a call.

IG Group's recent acquisition of investment platform Freetrade more than doubled the company's active customer base to 820,000 by the end of the fiscal year to May 31.

The company also plans to launch a 125-million-pound ($169 million) share buyback programme in the first half of this fiscal year.

Its shares were up 6.9% at 1,132 pence around 1000 GMT.

"If market turbulence persists, for which there is no shortage of triggers currently, there is a good chance buoyant trading conditions will persist," Shore Capital analyst Vivek Raja said in a note.

IG Group expects to meet market expectations for total revenues of 1.11 billion pounds and cash earnings per share of 110.4 pence in the year to the end of May 2026.

Adjusted pretax profit came in at 535.8 million pounds for the year ended May 31, up 17% from the year before. That compared with analysts' average expectation of 523.5 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.