One of the UK’s biggest trading platforms saw a huge spike in users and revenues as day-trading booms aro.. – Business Insider

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Trading floor 2IG Group

  • One of the UK’s largest market trading platforms, IG, saw a massive spike in active users and revenue amid a boom in day-trading, and higher market volatility during the pandemic.
  • The trading platform added close to 100,000 new users in the fiscal year 2020, a 34% rise from the previous year.
  • It also saw average daily trade volumes exceed 1 million in March, up from an average of only 336,000 in the same month in 2019.
  • IG’s annual pre-tax profits jumped 52% to $374 million, it said.
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IG Group, one of the UK’s biggest retail trading platforms, reported booming financial results for its fiscal year in 2020, boosted by frenzied growth of day-trading and increased market volatility during the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK-based financial derivatives platform grew its client base by 34% from onboarding 96,900 new clients in the year. IG Group currently has 239,600 active members, compared to 178,000 at the same time last year.

The platform saw average daily trade volumes exceed 1 million in March, up from an average of only 336,000 a year ago.

In the year ending 31 May, the trading group generated revenue of £649 million ($823 million), a 36% rise from last year’s performance.

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That was bolstered by a 9% rise in trading revenue to £389 million ($493 million) from the first three quarters, reflecting an unprecedented level of client activity from global market volatility.

Pre-tax profit jumped 52% to £295.9 million ($374 million).

For the next year, IG said it expects market volatility to return to normalized levels. For now, however, it continues to see heightened trading activity, although volatility is not as high as the peak it saw in March. 

“In FY20, we experienced growing client demand across the world for IG’s products and services even prior to the exceptional period in Q4, and delivered record results,” IG’s CEO June Felix said in a statement.

With its “successful navigation” of the pandemic, the company said it enabled a smooth transition to remote working while handling “exceptional trade volumes and client onboarding.”

IG Group’s trading boom is similar to that seen in the US with retail traders making up nearly 25% of the stock market. 

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This week, TD Ameritrade reported a 62% jump in daily average revenue trades while Interactive Brokers posted a 111% jump for the quarter.