CMC Markets: Annual Report Ended 31st March 2015 

CMC Markets plc. has issued a press release to inform on company’s 2015 Annual Report and financial results for the year ended 31st March 2015.

Highlights

• Net operating income of £143.6 million up 18% (£21.6 million)
• Revenue per active client(1) up 14% to £2,716
• Net active clients(2) up 5% to 50,303. Active retail clients up 11% to 45,103
• Underlying Profit Before Tax up 61% to £51.9 million
• Statutory Profit Before Tax up 35% to £43.5 million
• Basic earnings per share up 46% to 12.4 pence
• Own funds generated from operations of £45.2 million with total own funds of £141 million and minimal debt
• Capital ratio of 24% (301% pre CRD IV)
• Dividend increase of 33%

Operational and Strategic Review

CFD and spread bet regional review

The UK continues to be CMC Markets’ largest market and regional growth opportunity given the size of the market and CMC Markets’ home base. UK revenue per client grew by 33%, while overall UK revenue grew by 46%. The ANZ region also grew significantly, resulting in revenues rising by 24%.

European regions have been equally resilient during the year, representing 33% of the Group’s revenue. Rest of World (Singapore and Canada) revenue was 13% higher than prior year.

Client service

Over the last year CMC Markets has continued to focus on retaining premium clients. Increased recruitment onto CMC Markets’ Sales Trading desk has enabled the business to manage and support its top-tier client base and to attract other likeminded high value traders from its competitors.

CMC Markets was awarded ‘Highest Overall Client Satisfaction’ based on highest user satisfaction amongst CFD traders in the Investment Trends 2014 UK Leveraged Trading Report and ‘Best Spread Betting Platform’ from the 2015 ADVFN International Financial Awards.

Product innovation

CMC Markets continue to invest in their Next Generation technology and new services added over the year include Morningstar Quantitative Equity Research reports, Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders, the ability to go long and short on the same product simultaneously and Module Linking, for faster platform navigation. CMC Markets also released a major upgrade to its mobile trading apps in late 2014.

General platform usage jumped more than 30% over the course of the year, while mobile usage has increased by more than 37%. CMC Markets won 27 global awards including ‘Best Online Platform’ and ‘Financial Services Provider of the Year’ from the 2014 Shares Awards and 12 awards from the Investment Trends 2014 UK Leveraged Trading Report, which included ‘Best Platform Features’, ‘Best Mobile and Tablet App’ (3) and ‘Best Research Tools’ (4) based on highest user satisfaction.

Technology and operations

CMC Markets has invested in technology and operational processes which will allow it to expand with ease, providing scalability, combined with exceptional dependability and speed, while driving down marginal costs as volumes grow.

Trading risk management

Enhancements to CMC Markets’ trading tools during the year have further improved the returns of its highly automated transactional based risk management strategy. This has delivered improved daily average revenue and lower revenue variability.

Financial strength

The Group’s liquidity position has improved during the year and the non-utilisation of its credit facility for over two years demonstrates the robust liquidity profile of the Group.

Commenting on CMC Markets’ 2015 performance, Peter Cruddas, Chief Executive, said: “2015 has been another successful year for CMC Markets. We have demonstrated the success of our investment and focus on our award-winning technology and best in class client service, which has driven growth in underlying profit before tax of 61% this year. We are committed to providing an unrivalled trading experience for our clients and our Next Generation mobile trading platform now accounts for 41% of client trades. CMC Markets is a highly cash generative business and will continue to benefit from the scalability that our technology gives us as we expand our offering both in terms of products and through the opening of more overseas offices during the coming year. It is significant to note that we increased profits by 61%, whilst overheads increased by just 2%. This year’s results have been built on the scalability of the business through technology, which gives us a great base for future growth”.

Notes:

1) Trading revenue generated from CFD and spread bet active clients.

2) Active clients represent those individual clients who have traded with or held CFD of Spread bet positions with CMC Markets on at least one occasion during the financial year.

3) According to spread betters, CFD and FX traders.

4) According to spread betters and CFD traders.

Source: CMC Markets

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