IG Group posts higher profit

19th Jul 2011 07:35

IG Group's full year results have come in a shade ahead of expectations, with the spread-betting company continuing to bag new clients in spite of tough economic conditions.In the year to 30 May, adjusted pre-tax profits came in £163m, up by 3.4% from the previous year, ahead of IG's previous prediction of a 3% rise.Revenues rose by 7.3% to £320.4m. Broker Espirito Santo said ahead of the results that a rise above 7% would be a "relatively robust" performance."The results reflect the continued growth opportunity for the Group as we focus on developing our core businesses," said chief executive Tim Howkins. "Through the year we have extended our share in some of our largest markets and have taken a number of steps to further strengthen our competitive position."The full-year dividend per share rises to 20p from 18.5p.During the period IG decided to focus on its financial business and discard its sports-betting operations. It sold its sporting client list to rival Spreadex and is hoping to offload its sports pricing engine in the coming months."The new financial year has started well, with revenue from our financial business higher than in June 2010, despite substantially lower levels of market volatility," the company said."Our ongoing investment in technology and our commitment to fair, transparent execution continue to drive market share gains in a number of our key markets, leaving us well placed for future profitable growth."---RG