Online trading group IG (IGG) has disappointed with its third quarter numbers as revenue slumped from professional clients, sending its shares down 7.4% to 507.5p.
Net trading revenue fell by 12% to £108m, quarter-on-quarter, with IG blaming reduced levels of volatility in the markets. Wild share price swings often encourage people to bet on market movements through the likes of IG.
Broker Shore Capital attributes the poor result from IG to a ‘perceived lack of interesting trading opportunities’.
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Shares in IG had already been weak in the run-up to the third quarter update. Investors have been increasingly worried about the impact of stricter rules on trading contracts-for-difference (CFDs).
Measures were put in place last summer to limit how much leverage retail customers could be offered, so as to protect them from running up large losses very quickly without proper levels of cash-backing available.
IG’s rival CMC Markets (CMCX) has issued several profit warnings over the past six months as the crackdown on trading hit earnings. Therefore expectations were already low for IG’s third quarter results.
However, the interesting point is that IG’s latest weakness is centred on professional customers who are exempt from the leverage caps imposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
Another negative hanging over the share price today is a warning from IG that says it cannot accurately predict revenue for the final quarter of its financial year.
