The Board of London Capital Group Holdings plc (“the Group”), the financial services and online spread betting and CFD company, is pleased to give the following trading update in respect of the first half of the current financial year and announces that it will release interim results for the period ended 30 June 2013 on 22 August 2013.
The Group is expecting to report that adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations for the six months to 30 June 2013 will be in the region of GBP3.1m compared to GBP2.1m for the same period last year and a loss of GBP2.3m for the second half of last year. Adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations is stated before recognising a charge in relation to share based payments of GBP0.03m, previously announced costs associated with the current change in IT platform of GBP0.9m, and non-recurring restructuring costs of GBP0.7m.
Following the difficult trading conditions of the second half of last year, there was an increase in market volatility which led to improved revenues and KPIs in 2013 more in line with those seen in the first half of 2012.Revenue from continuing operations was GBP16.2m (2012: GBP17.8m), of which GBP13.2m (2012: GBP12.8m) was derived from the retail spread betting and CFD business and GBP3.1m (2012: GBP4.8m) was derived from the institutional FX and broking businesses.
During the period the Australian subsidiary’s trade was wound down and the entity was disposed of. It is anticipated that the sale of ProSpreads, the Gibraltar based subsidiary, will be completed in the next 4-6 weeks. The profit from discontinued operations for the period was GBP0.1m (2012: loss of GBP0.7m).
Overall the Group is well capitalised and as at 30 June 2013 had net cash resources and amounts due from brokers amounting to GBP24.4m.
Commenting on the results, Mark Slade, Chief Executive, said:
“We have enjoyed strong trading conditions in the first half of the year and our financial performance has benefited from improved market conditions. We have also made good progress reshaping the business and while we are moving in the right direction there is still much work to be done for the company to achieve its full potential.”