Appointment of CEO and Half Year Trading Update
7 July 2020
Plus500 Ltd.
("Plus500", "the Company" or "the Group")
Appointment of CEO and Half Year Trading Update
Plus500, a leading technology platform for trading Contracts for Difference ("CFDs") internationally, today issues the following trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2020, as well as the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive Officer.
Appointment of CEO
Following an extensive internal and external search carried out by the Board, the Company announces that David Zruia has been appointed as permanent Chief Executive Officer, having held the role on an interim basis since 20 April 2020. David joined Plus500 in 2010 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2013.
Half Year Trading Update
Further to the Company's recent trading updates, issued on 28 April 2020 and 8 June 2020, market volatility remained heightened throughout the second quarter. This drove a consistently high level of customer trading activity which, together with the onboarding of a significant number of New Customers1 at an attractive cost, ensured a record number of Active Customers2 trading on the Plus500 platform during H 1 2020. 198,176 New Customers were onboarded during H1 2020 (H1 2019: 47,540), including 115,225 New Customers in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: 26,234).
As a result, total revenue for H1 2020 was circa $564.2m3 (H1 2019: $148.0m), including circa $247.6m3 in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: $94.1m), demonstrating the strength, scalability and differentiation of the Group's business model . The Company achieved a record level of half yearly Customer Income4, of approximately $556.9m (H1 2019: $175.0m), including circa $323.4m in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: $93.0m). Furthermore, the period-end position of Customer Trading Performance5 reverted to insignificant historical levels, with revenues from Customer Trading Performance representing approximately 1% of the total revenues in the period.
The unprecedented market environment during the period, the consistently high level of quality and performance of Plus500's market-leading proprietary technology platform and the continued dedication and hard work of our employees in extremely challenging circumstances ensured that customer retention remained strong.
The Company's financial position remains robust, driven by the strong EBITDA margin achieved during the period and continued high cash generation, as well as the minimal capital expenditure requirements and the low capital intensity of the business.
Despite a background of on-going uncertainty regarding the duration of current levels of volatility, and the unquantified potential impact from regulatory changes in Australia, the Board remains very confident about the outlook for the Company. A further update will be provided when the Company publishes its half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2020 on 11 August 2020.
1 New Customers - Customers depositing for the first time during the period
2 Active Customers - Customers who made at least one real money trade during the period
3 Unaudited numbers
4 Customer Income - Revenue from customer spreads and overnight charges
5 Customer Trading Performance - Gains/losses on customers' trading positions
Penny Judd, Chairman of Plus500, commented on David Zruia's appointment as permanent CEO:
"David has proven his ability over several years with Plus500 as Chief Operating Officer, during which time he has developed a thorough knowledge of the business and has consistently exhibited strong leadership skills. He quickly rose to the challenge of becoming interim CEO and, consequently, he proved to be the outstanding candidate to take on the role permanently, following an extensive internal and external search process carried out by the Board. The Board is looking forward to working with David in the future and we wish him the very best in leading Plus500 going forward."
David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented on his appointment and on the results:
"Having been part of the Plus500 team for almost 10 years, I am honoured to be given the opportunity to become CEO of the Company. It has been exciting to lead the business on an interim basis over the last few months and I believe that Plus500 is in an extremely strong position, both operationally and financially, to deliver future growth for our shareholders.
"This position is highlighted by our exceptionally strong performance during the first half of 2020. The significant number of New Customers on-boarded is a strong signal of the sophistication and accessibility of our proprietary technology platform. This performance is also a testament to our people, who have been fully committed to ensuring that we have offered our customers a consistent, seamless, high quality service in extremely challenging, and unprecedented, circumstances.
"Given our performance in the first half, we remain very confident about the prospects for the Company."
For further details Plus500 Ltd
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The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Forward looking statements
This announcement contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the Company's future prospects, developments and strategies. The Company does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any information reported by the press or other media, nor the fairness or appropriateness of any forecasts, views or opinions express by the press or other media regarding the Group. The Company makes no representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness or reliability of any such information or publication.
Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe", "targets", "expects", "aim", "anticipate", "projects", "would", "could", "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan", "will" or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. The forward-looking statements in this announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described in the risk factors. These forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of such entity and the environment in which each will operate in the future. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributed to the Company or any persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement above. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this announcement. Except as required by law, regulatory requirement, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules, neither the Company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Plus500
Plus500 operates a proprietary technology platform for individual customers to trade CFDs internationally. The Group offers more than 2,800 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of Plus500 can trade CFDs in more than 50 countries and in 32 languages. The trading platform is accessible from multiple operating systems (Windows, iOS, Android and Surface) and web browsers. Plus500 retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore and the Seychelles.
Customer care is and always been integral to Plus500, as such, customers cannot be subject to negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses. Plus500 does not utilise cold calling techniques and does not offer binary options. Plus500 shares have a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. www.plus500.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
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