Plus500's (PLUS) status as an Aim star is still intact. A bumper set of annual figures included a near doubling of revenues last year, beating Numis's forecasts by 8 per cent. Operating profits of $145m also came in 5 per cent ahead of the broker's estimate, prompting the analysts to upgrade their EPS forecast for the current financial year by 4 per cent to 104ȼ. They reckon pre-tax profits could jump another 16 per cent this year to $160m.
The stellar revenue growth can be explained by a slew of new customers (up 17 per cent to 66,553), rising numbers of active customers (up 24 per cent to 105,976) and therefore more active customer accounts. The average revenue per user also soared 63 per cent to $2,160. This makes Plus500 the second-largest contract-for-difference (CFD) provider in the UK - only two years after its debut on Aim.
The company is investing heavily in marketing to entice even more new customers to the platform: average user acquisition costs increased 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $1,120 in the final quarter. Fortunately, this did translate into a 28 per cent increase in new customers.
| PLUS500 (PLUS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 612p | MARKET VALUE: | £703m | |
| TOUCH: | 608-612p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 707p | LOW: 347p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 8.4% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 96ȼ | NET CASH: | $139m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (ȼ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010* | 24.2 | 8.2 | 3.3 | na |
| 2011* | 50.0 | 23.1 | 7.3 | na |
| 2012* | 56.1 | 23.1 | 7.3 | na |
| 2013 | 115 | 67.2 | 47.0 | 35.73 |
| 2014 | 229 | 138 | 89.0 | 80.08** |
| % change | +99 | +105 | +89 | +124 |
Ex-div: 19 Mar Payment: 15 May *Pre IPO figures **Includes special dividend of 26.57ȼ a share £1 = $1.55 | ||||
