By Yamini Kalia
(Reuters) -Plus500 reported a double-digit increase in its third-quarter revenue on Monday, as the online trading platform signed up more new customers during the period.
The Israel-based firm has benefited from market volatility caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Plus500, which offers trading services in more than 60 countries, saw strong performance in the U.S. and UAE, which it had said earlier this year were among its focus markets.
The company has been targeting a more “mature and sophisticated” customer base amid heightened regulatory scrutiny around the acceptance of new customers, CFO Elad Even-Chen told Reuters.
“Plus500’s customer base has generally been increasing in quality over time anyway, with the average customer now trading much more frequently than the average customer from say five years ago,” Panmure Liberum analyst James Allen said.
The company also expects to benefit from potential market volatility in the run-up to the U.S. election in November.
Shares of the FTSE 250 firm were up 1.5% at 2,454 pence.
Plus500 reported revenue of $187.3 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, an 11% year increase from a year earlier and beating Jefferies expectations of $166 million. New customers rose 21%.
The company expects to report full-year revenue and core profit in line with recently upgraded market expectations of $724.5 million and $338.3 million, respectively, according to a company-compiled consensus.
(Reporting by Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
