IG's full-year revenues grow 7%

9th Jun 2011 07:24

Spreadbetting firm IG Group expects trading revenue for the year ended 31 May to be 7% ahead of last year, as strong growth in Europe and Singapore offset a weakening performance in Japan.Revenue should come in at £320m, the group said, compared with £298.6m the year before, helped by a record month in March, which saw high levels of volatility, "particularly in the yen, the Nikkei, gold and oil resulted in both revenue per client and the number of active clients being elevated."However, activity was "subdued" in April, which the firm said was attributable to the combination of dull markets with Easter and an extended holiday period in the UK.Revenue from the UK, its largest operating region, grew by 3% from £163m to £167m, though it tailed off towards the end of the year, falling 2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter.Europe revenue jumped 21% from £47m to £58m, while Singapore sales surged by 38% to £15m, from £11m previously.However, revenue from Japan dropped by 14% over the year, from £24m to £21m, falling by 38% in the fourth quarter, reflecting the impact of leverage restrictions introduced during the year, the group said.Meanwhile, adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to be 3% higher than the prior year, coming in at £163m, up from £157.6m."Despite relatively low and falling volatility during large parts of the year, the Group has continued to grow the active client base and has experienced another year of revenue and profit growth," the firm said.During the year, IG looked to sell off or close its sports business, extrabet, which accounts for less than 2.5% of group revenue. After being unable to secure a sale, it has now commenced a redundancy consultation process with the division's employees.After taking into account the write off of goodwill associated with the business - as well as the cash closure and redundancy costs - the group will incur one-off costs (to be recognised in the year ending 31 May 2011) totaling £7.75m.IG will sell the majority of the extrabet's client list to Spreadex Limited.---BC