IG GROUP HOLDINGS PLC Interim Management Statement
IG Group today issues the following Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 June 2012 to 10 September 2012. Unless otherwise stated, trends and figures highlighted below refer to the three months ended 31 August 2012 and the corresponding period last year.
Revenue in the first quarter was in line with expectations at £81.5m, 18% lower than the prior year. As previously stated, the comparator period in 2011, which was 30% ahead of the year before, was marked by some extreme levels of volatility in financial markets and short term spikes in client activity. August 2011 remains, by some way, the record month for the group in terms of trading revenue.
Performance across the group was reasonably consistent, with revenue down in all regions. The particularly quiet financial markets impacted all areas of client activity relative to the prior period, including active client numbers, average revenue per client and the number of clients signing up and trading for the first time. The impact of the fall in revenue on profit before tax was partly mitigated by a number of factors including the flow through into lower staff bonuses, low betting duty and subdued marketing activity; the last of these was both as a direct result of quieter markets and hence reduced demand, and in anticipation of new marketing due to commence early in the second quarter which will build on the strength of the IG brand.
