Member Info for MarkBellUK

"The amount representing the 5% difference in the Withholding Tax rate for the final 2019 dividend will be paid to the Company's shareholders as a direct distribution in due course."

As Tom says I think this will be automatically credited to your brokers account, if applicable

Still here enjoying the peace ..trying to work out the time frame of the moving average for the buyback %. At least that would give a moving price point at which they will re-activate

Yes the algorithm tracks a moving average ( I think its an MA)..if the price has risen > 5% over that period they stop until it becomes < 5% of the average in that given time frame

To be fair if you look back through the last buybacks many times the volume for 23,000 - 35,000 so @ 1450 = £335.5k to £507.5k per day

They are buying back just short of 4,000,000 shares!

Aside from the fact there have only been 4,119 in the last 3 days!

And we have still shot up and they havent kicked it yet

It could be a fund that needs to draw down cash on one of its better performers, its could be an institution that has strict rules on selling on reaching a price target ...there are loads of factors...many have been holding this stock since the 700 & 800s so are sitting on heavy profits

Monica we know what that is, when it is and its impact and this is still worth 1800+++

Its a good sign when larger sells go through and the SP keeps increasing

Just wait until the buybacks get into full swing and that short reduces

A City bookmaker is to return $168 million to shareholders after a wave of new punters helped to lift its first-half profits sixfold.

Plus500 is paying a more than trebled $101 million interim dividend and also set out plans yesterday for a $67.3 million share buyback.

Almost a third of a million clients placed at least one bet with the firm in the six months to June after it attracted 198,000 new customers, a huge increase on the 48,000 garnered in the same period in 2019.

The number of bets or trades made in the period was 47 million, up from 17.5 million. Punters also lodged bigger deposits in order to take larger positions. The average deposit per active customer rose from $3,296 to $5,034.

The company’s earnings before interest, tax and other charges leapt to $361.8 million from $65.6 million a year earlier.

The Israel-based group — like its rivals IG Group and CMC Markets — sells spread bets and contracts-for-difference, complex derivatives that allow amateur and professional traders to place leveraged wagers on the direction of prices in financial markets, ranging from shares and bonds to commodities to cryptocurrencies. Its biggest markets are Britain, Germany and Spain.

Large swings in these prices and increased media coverage entices more people to back their hunches about common benchmarks, such as the prices of crude oil and gold or the level of the FTSE 100 or Dow Jones industrial average share indices. The pandemic-related slump in share markets and the collapse of the oil price in March — and their subsequent rallies — boosted demand from punters. Plus500 has said previously that 80.5 per cent of its retail customers lose money.

The interim dividend of $0.9531 per share is up 249 per cent on the payment last year.

David Zruia, the chief executive, expected the heightened market volatility to reduce to more normal levels in the second half of the year, although income since July 1 was still double normal levels.

The company yesterday named Anne Grim, a former chief customer officer with Fidelity International, as a non-executive director.

Shares in Plus500 rose by 134p, or 10.7 per cent, to £13.87.

Yes as SJ has just said
"I think Liberum might have forgotten to update their 2H20 Rev figure!!!
They still have $193m (+$25m on last forecast)- I have $400m for 2H based on the doubling of active clients and supported by the comment today that Q3 20 Rev to 11 Aug more than double Q2 19 to same date.

Taking out Cust P&L I have quarterly Rev for 2020 of 235, 323. 225, 175. (Q3 19 was 108 ex Cust P&L of +3)
Doesn't look unreasonable to me - might even be too cautious - why PLUS use (less) Liberum is beyond me although means PLUS can deliver another ahead statement with the Q3 TS"

Summary Changes numbers:-

https://ibb.co/WHLYNn1

ssuming that the group is able to sustain the tax incentives created by its accreditation by both the Israeli Innovation Authority and the Israeli Tax Authority beyond FY21, we reduce our underlying tax rate assumption from 23% to 12% for all years. This, and the incorporation of the announced buyback programme, results in us increasing our FY20 EPS estimate by 18%, and FY21 and FY22 by 22% on average.

We note that the reduction in our FY20 DPS reflects the fact that 40% of the interim returns announced will be returned to shareholders via a buyback, and that the earnings associated with the reduced tax rate are being treated as special in their nature. The latter explains why the increase in our FY21 and FY22 DPS is smaller than the upgrade to our EPS forecasts.

Based on our updated forecasts for FY20 the shares trade on a PE of 4.1x and offer a dividend yield of 9.1%. We see the latter as particularly attractive given the upside that could prevail should volatility remain at elevated levels beyond the end of 1H20, and the fact that on more normalised earnings the stock is just trading on just 8.6x CY21 earnings and 4.8x EV/EBITDA. Given the performance of the platform during the first six months of the year, it is clear to us that Plus500 is the leading operator in the retail CFD space As a result, we believe that the current discount at which it trades to its peers will unwind, and set our target price using a 13.0x multiple to reflect this. We apply this to our FY21 earnings and add a small premium to reflect the supernormal returns being generated in FY20, part of which is likely to be returned to shareholders via the dividend. Our revised target price of 1950p (from 1680p) implies upside of 56% from the current share price.

After a little nudge from my good self and Sailing John, the FT Alphaville have now covered PLUS today:-
Turning to reader requests, Cyprus/UK/Seychelles regulated CFD punter counterparty Plus500 says it “delivered an outstanding performance during the first half of the year, driven by the strength and differentiation of our proprietary technology, which enabled our business and our customers to benefit from the unprecedented market volatility.” But then, Plus500 says a lot of things. Here’s Canaccord:

Total revenue was $564.2m, as reported in the pre-close update (7 July), +281% y/y. Of this, client losses contributed 1%. EBITDA was $361.8m, +452% y/y, giving an EBITDA margin of 64%. The company has announced an interim dividend of $101m ($0.9531 p/s) and is launching a new $67.3m share buyback today. As previously indicated in the pre-close update, active and new customers reached record levels during the period. The company has also been given “Preferred Technological Enterprise” status by the Israeli Innovation and Tax Authorities, meaning it will benefit from a reduced corporate tax rate of 12% (versus the full rate of 23%) until at least the end of 2021. The outlook statement is confident, indicating that customer income so far in H2’20 is more than double the prior year, although heightened market volatility is expected to normalise. We will review our forecasts post today’s update, but we expect meaningful consensus upgrades are likely on the back of a very strong half. The interim yields 5.8% and the share buyback 3.9%, for a total of 9.7%, which we think is likely to provide support to the shares.

And Liberum (house broker, obv):

The record 1H20 results are due to more than just favourable market conditions. They also reflect the benefits of the group’s best-in-class platform, which continues to deliver despite lower leverage limits. Its scalable technology and agile marketing algorithms has enabled it to win significant market share, drive continued improvement in financial returns, and be one of the first companies in Israel to receive the status of a Preferred Technological Enterprise. This accreditation brings a number of benefits including significant tax credits, which result in us increasing our medium-term EPS forecasts by an average 21%. Despite this positive medium-term outlook the shares trade on just 8.6x our revised CY21 earnings. As a result, we reiterate our BUY rating and increase our TP to 1950p (from 1680p).?.?.?.?

Although the strong top-line performance delivered in 1H20 results in us marginally increasing our revenue forecasts for all years, we leave our EBITDA estimates unchanged to reflect the investments made in the platform during the period, and the potential for further spend in the medium-term. This, combined with a lower than expected net finance charge sees us increase our adjusted PBT forecasts by an average 2% over the FY20-22 period. Assuming that the group is able to sustain the tax incenti

Surely (part 34) this must have bottomed????

Thanks to DJ for this

"Heard the earnings call. All positive from my perspective. The tax change is huge, adds ~$2/share to the value of the company in aggregate. $100m cash return from historical income and another ~100m cash savings (10% higher Eps) on 2020 and 2021 income. And it sounds like that it is quite likely that extends into the future past 2021. On that news itself the value of the Plus increases by ~10%."

True Taverham but YOY one strategy returns much larger profits..yoy yoy AND doesnt put people into massive debt (IG £11m bad debt, PLUS negative balance protection), one company makes 52% increase in profit and increases dividend by 0%, the other increased divi 249%...I can go on

Yea we are still getting tossed around but with 3,834,757 share buybacks @ 13.50, shorts to close, Directors to buy?, Institutions, solid yield?, no debt, ridiculous FCF blah blah..I cant find any better options anywhere!

Clear out the crap then we can move forward

its about 73p - 20% TAX

Expect a large final and special though....

WOW

those who held for the PREVIOUS dividend will get 5% back...
"The amount representing the 5% difference in the Withholding Tax rate for the final 2019 dividend will be paid to the Company's shareholders as a direct distribution in due course."
"

So last interims 13/8/19 buybacks started 19/8

Waiting on that short position reducing significantly as well