For businesses, change can cost. Pre-tax profits were slightly lower at the half-way stage for online spread-betting specialist IG Group (IGG), but this reflected an increase in spending on new growth initiatives. Higher betting duty and lower interest on client funds also dragged. But at the top line, turnover rose by 8 per cent, and recent investments are expected to boost this further.
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The UK, which remains the group's largest market, pushed revenue ahead by 3.4 per cent, compared with Australia growing at 5.7 per cent. But these were outpaced by Europe, where turnover increased by 13 per cent, and even stronger growth elsewhere in its international operations.