IG Group revenues rise 9%

9th Dec 2010 13:45

Spread-betting company IG Group saw a 9% jump in first half revenue despite a number of regulatory hurdles in Japan and the US.Sales will reach £157m in the six months to November, with mainland Europe driving the improvement.As a whole, revenue in IG's European is up 24% to £27m, with Germany the fastest growing of these offices achieving growth of 56%. Revenue in the UK and Australian businesses will reach £83m and £23m respectively. Regulatory restrictions in Japan, which came into play in August, have had an adverse impact on client activity levels there. Additionally, the group says the revenue for the Japanese office is expected to be "very significantly reduced" as a result of further stringent leverage restrictions on equity indices in January 2011. For the half year, 27% of Japanese revenue has been from equity indices.The US business is estimated to see a slight decline reflecting the introduction of leverage limits and other regulatory changes during October.On a positive note, the group's sport business extrabet.com revenues are up by 23% to £3.7m, as it benefited from the World Cup in South Africa in the summer.