Plus500 Ltd (LON:PLUS), a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms, has today announced its unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2022.
Financial Highlights:
| FY 2022* | FY 2021 | Change % | |
| Revenue | $832.6m | $718.7m | 16% |
| EBITDA | $453.8m | $387.1m | 17% |
| EBITDA Margin % | 55% | 54% | 2% |
| Cash balance at year end | $930.2m | $749.5m | 24% |
*Unaudited
Key Headlines:
Excellent performance achieved, well ahead of market expectations[1] at the beginning of FY 2022, driving strong revenue and EBITDA growth:
· Powered by the Group’s proven business model and market-leading proprietary technology
· Plus500’s on-going ability to attract and retain higher value, long term customers evidenced by:
o 87% of OTC[2] revenue derived from Group’s customers trading for more than a year
o Consistently strong levels of Customer Income[3]
o Record annual ARPU[4] achieved during the year
· The Group reached another major commercial milestone, with over 24 million worldwide customers now registered on its trading platforms since inception, providing significant potential value for Plus500 over time, through utilisation of new proprietary retention, activation and monetisation technologies
· Customer deposits increased to $2.3 billion (FY 2021: $2.1 billion), with average deposit per Active Customer[5] growing to a record high of approximately $8,000 (FY 2021: approximately $5,000), highlighting on-going customer loyalty and confidence in Plus500
· In FY 2022, over 85% of the Group’s OTC revenue was generated from customers which used Plus500’s OTC platform on mobile or tablet devices and over 82% of OTC customer trades took place on mobile or tablet devices
Significant progress made in accessing the substantial institutional opportunity in the US futures market:
· New B2B business line with major revenue opportunity – in addition to Plus500’s long-standing proprietary B2C technologies and offering, the Group has established a new commercial model, business vertical and strategic position developed by the Group as market infrastructure provider, delivering execution, clearing and brokerage services for institutional clients
· Outstanding achievement in FY 2022 in becoming a full clearing firm member of the CME Group exchanges and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX). This extensive range of clearing capabilities will help to deliver the substantial potential opportunity for Plus500 in the US futures market
Major headway achieved in accessing the sizeable and growing US futures retail trading market:
· ‘TradeSniper’, an intuitive new proprietary trading platform, launched in Q3 2022
· Provides a highly differentiated, technology-based proposition for Plus500 in the futures retail market
· ‘TradeSniper’ enables a fully holistic solution for onboarding, depositing and trading, as well as new payment methods – these features are now available for the first time for customers in the US futures market
Further delivery against global strategic growth opportunities:
· Access to the substantial Japanese retail trading market, through acquisition of a regulated entity in Japan
o Integration on track, with further additions made to high quality local management team
· In February 2023, obtained new regulatory licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in the high growth market of the UAE
· Obtained new regulatory licence in Estonia, to act as an additional foundation to the Group’s business across Europe in its OTC product offering
· ‘Plus500 Invest’, the Group’s proprietary share dealing platform, rolled out in mobile applications and in new countries across Europe, with new equities added to this product offering
On-going development and enhancement of the Group’s marketing approach:
· Continued investment in Plus500’s diversified marketing approach to drive brand awareness in key markets, supported by long-standing and valuable global marketing and advertising partners
· Further optimisation in the performance of the Company’s proprietary marketing technologies
· New technological retention initiatives developed and launched, including premium service, demonstrating the Group’s continued focus on high value customers
· Launch of major global advertising campaign, featuring actor Kiefer Sutherland
· Multi-year global partnership established with the NBA Chicago Bulls
Significant advances in a number of key areas of product development – in particular ‘+Insights’ launch:
· ‘+Insights’ is Plus500’s big-data, analytical tool designed to provide its OTC customers with access to real-time and historical trends, based on the Group’s registered customer base
· Enables customers to view previously undisclosed and uniquely filtered data points and information
· Provides a unique, tailored experience for customers – available as a complementary service for OTC customers across Plus500’s web app, iOS and Android applications
Plus500’s reinforced financial position enables continued investment in growth and shareholder returns:
· Cash balances of $930.2m as at 31 December 2022 (31 December 2021: $749.5m)
· No debts or loans since the Company’s inception
· Continued strong Operating cash conversion[6] in FY 2022 of 112% (FY 2021: 99%)
Continued focus and improvements on governance, sustainability, social responsibility and investor engagement:
· New Independent Non-Executive Director appointed, further expanding the range of the Board’s experience and expertise and diversifying its gender composition, leading to 50% female representation within the Board
· Adopted enhanced level of disclosure relating to the Group’s approach to various ESG matters, including a detailed TCFD[7] report to be embedded within Plus500’s Annual Report for FY 2022
· Continued focus on customer care and protection, also through the launch of Plus500’s Trading Academy and ‘+Insights’
· Entrepreneurial and high-performance organisational culture drives further improvements of employee development, attraction and retention, through training, learning, community engagement, welfare, wellbeing and career progression
· Capital Markets Day was hosted by the Company’s Chair of the Board and management team in September 2022, providing information on key elements of Plus500’s investment case, business model and major growth opportunities for the Group
Further substantial returns delivered to shareholders, reaching $270.2m, representing 73% of FY 2022 net profits:
· Includes distribution of final and special share buybacks and dividends announced today of $100.0m
· Share buyback programmes in respect of FY 2022 of $180.2m, comprising:
o Final buyback programme, announced today, to purchase up to $42.4m of the Company’s shares
o Special buyback programme, announced today, to purchase up to $27.6m of the Company’s shares
o Interim buyback programme of $60.2m, announced on 17 August 2022, of which $53.0m has been completed as at 13 February 2023
o Special buyback programme of $50.0m, announced on 13 April 2022, and fully completed
· Dividend payments in respect of FY 2022 of $90.0m ($0.9472 per share), comprising:
o Final dividend of $20.0m, $0.2156 per share, announced today, to be distributed in July 2023
o Special dividend of $10.0m, $0.1078 per share, announced today, to be distributed in July 2023
o Interim dividend of $60.0m, $0.6238 per share, distributed in November 2022
· Company policy is to return at least 50% of net profits to shareholders through share buyback programmes and dividends on a half-yearly basis, with at least 50% of this distribution being made by way of share buybacks. The Board will also consider executing special share buyback programmes, or other distributions, on a half yearly basis
The Board remains confident about the Group’s future prospects:
· Board’s confidence based on Plus500’s reinforced financial position and its significant progress against key strategic objectives over recent years
o Highlighted by the Group generating accumulated EBITDA of approximately $1.4 billion since new strategic roadmap initiated in FY 2020, to evolve into a global multi-asset fintech group
· The Board continues to expect that Plus500 will deliver sustainable growth over the medium to long term
· For FY 2023, the Board expects Plus500’s performance to be in line with current market expectations[8]
David Zruia, Plus500 Ltd Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Plus500 continues to outperform, delivering an excellent set of results in 2022, well ahead of market expectations at the beginning of the year. Our performance was again driven by Plus500’s unique proprietary technology stack proposition, which underpins our on-going ability to attract and retain higher value customers over the long term. We are in an extremely exciting strategic and commercial position, with multiple potential growth opportunities available, particularly in the US futures market, which will continue to drive our growth as a global multi-asset fintech group. With further organic investments and targeted acquisitions, we are confident that Plus500 remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth over the medium to long-term.”
[1] Market expectations based on compiled analysts’ consensus forecasts at the beginning of FY 2022
[2] OTC (‘Over-the-Counter’) products, namely CFDs (‘Contracts for Difference’)
[3] Customer Income – Revenue from OTC Customer Income (customer spreads and overnight charges) and Non-OTC Customer Income (commissions from the Group’s futures and options on futures operation and from ‘Plus500 Invest’, the Group’s share dealing platform)
[4] ARPU – Average Revenue Per User
[5] Active Customers – Customers who made at least one real money trade during the period
[6] Operating cash conversion – Cash generated from operations / EBITDA
[7] TCFD – Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
