Plus500 expects full-year 2026 revenue and EBITDA to exceed market expectations after reporting a Q3 revenue of $203.2 million, up 11% from $182.7 million a year earlier.
The London-listed broker published the figures in an unaudited trading update for the three months to 30 September. EBITDA rose 7% to $88.4 million, an EBITDA margin of 44%. Over the first nine months, revenue reached $666.1 million, up 11%, while EBITDA grew 3% to $275.9 million.
London’s trading industry is coming home!
The outlook marks a shift from July. In its H1 update, Plus500 guided full-year revenue and EBITDA in line with consensus, three months after telling investors to expect a beat. That update showed H1 revenue of $462.9 million, with EBITDA up 1% to $187.5 million.
“With momentum accelerating across the Group, the Board expects that FY 2026 revenue and EBITDA will be ahead of current market expectations,” said CEO David Zruia.
Trading income up, interest income down
Trading income for the nine months rose to $634.0 million from $547.1 million. Interest income fell to $32.1 million from $50.7 million, which the company attributed to lower global interest rates.
Customer Income, which Plus500 uses as a measure of underlying performance, rose 19% to $641.1 million year to date. Customer Trading Performance was $11.9 million in Q3, against negative $3.6 million a year earlier.
New customers reached 28,747 in the quarter, up from 22,644. Active customers rose 4% to 119,528, and ARPU increased 7% to $1,700. AUAC fell 14% to $1,150. Customer deposits hit a quarterly record of $1.9 billion.
The non-OTC business accounted for about 16% of group revenue and 31% of new customers year to date. Customer segregated funds in the US passed $1 billion. Plus500 added Wealthsimple and Nelogica as B2B partners, and introduced CFTC-regulated prediction market contracts and single stock futures.
On the OTC side, the group launched 24/5 trading on stocks and ETFs. After the period end, it added 24/7 trading on gold, silver, oil and natural gas, along with daily option contracts.
Two deals in about a week
The update also covers Plus500’s two pending acquisitions, both funded from existing cash. The company agreed to buy Hedge, a US broker-dealer, and then Guru, a Brazilian one.
Plus500 said Hedge gives it access to SEC-regulated markets and supports a planned multi-asset “super-app” for US retail customers, due in Q1 2027. The app is to cover futures, options on futures, prediction markets, stocks, options and ETFs.
“Hedge will unlock access to SEC-regulated markets, supporting the planned launch of a new, multi-asset ‘super-app’ in Q1 2027,” Zruia said.
Guru gives Plus500 its first local operations in Brazil. At the time of the deal, Zruia said “Brazil is one of the world’s most attractive trading markets”. The company said it can now begin onboarding customers there and extend its reach across Latin America. It already has a B2B partnership with Nelogica and a presence in Colombia.
Plus500 held more than $775 million in cash at 30 September and carries no debt. In Q3 it paid a dividend of $87.4 million and bought back about $63.5 million of shares.
This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.