IG Group (IGG) pushed up first-quarter revenue by 15 per cent to £93.6m, but the online spread bettor pointed out that the same quarter last year was particularly quiet, while the second half of this year will be measured against a particularly strong second half of last year.
Active client numbers were down 5 per cent overall, but this partly reflected a strategy of not actively attracting or retaining very low value clients. In fact, the average revenue per client rose by 21 per cent, and activity was particularly strong at the start of the quarter in response to heavy falls in equity markets on the back of quantitative easing tapering fears and concern over the Chinese economy.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profits of £190.2m in the year to May 2014, and have upgraded EPS forecasts slightly from 38.4p to 38.8p.
