Contract for difference trading platform Plus500 has announced a record level of performance in the opening quarter of 2018, benefiting largely from high levels of volatility in cryptocurrency markets.
Revenues were up to US$297.3m (£216.4m) for Q1 2018 – an increase of 284 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.
With performance driven by an increase in new and active customers, the firm’s EBITDA for the period was US$237.3m for the period, representing over 90 per cent of the full-year EBITDA for 2017. Opening-quarter revenues were over 120 per cent higher than the company’s previous record quarter.
The number of active customers in the period was 218,187, a 204 per cent increase compared to Q1 2017, while there were 72,960 new customers, with Plus500 stating this reflected the group’s “competitive advantage to react quickly to dynamic market developments and market volatility”.
“The very strong start to the year, which was referred to in our preliminary announcement of 14 February 2018, resulted from a period of relatively volatile markets and high levels of interest in the Company's cryptocurrency CFDs offering, and in turn encouraged high levels of new customer sign-ups and record trading in Q1 2018,” Plus500 stated.
“We have since seen market conditions return to more normal levels in the last two months. As such we do not expect such an exceptional performance to be repeated in the remainder of the year.”
