IG Group reports record profits alongside share buyback scheme

The results came alongside the announcement of a new shareholder distribution policy which includes £150m ($179.3m/€175.9m) in share buybacks.

Total revenue was up 16% for the financial year to £973.1m, compared to the previous year’s £837.6m. This left a profit before taxation of £477m, a 7% increase year-on-year.

Accounting for one-time hedging financial maneuvers associated with the group’s acquisition of trading media business Tastytrade, the total revenue was £967.3m.

IG Group CEO June Felix pointed to the acquisition as helping develop the group’s US presence.

“Acquiring Tastytrade last year enabled us to accelerate our strategy to expand into exchange-traded products and better establish our presence in the US, the largest retail financial market in the world,” Felix explained.

“To put this in context, the US has 14 million active traders across options, futures and cash equities. This market of self-directed, ambitious investors has over 100 million accounts at the main US brokerages.”

Felix said the positive results were due to a company strategy that allowed IG Group to take advantage of new market opportunities and industry trends.

“This year’s record results show how we have achieved consistent, strong financial performance while we continue our journey to become a more diversified, innovative, global fintech,” she said.

“Our forward-looking strategy has positioned us well to capitalise on a significantly larger total addressable market and to take advantage of the ongoing shifts towards self-directed investing. We are now operating on an entirely new scale.”

However total operating costs increased to £501.9m from £393.4m in 2021 – a 28% increase. The business blamed M&A pressures for the number.

“Statutory operating costs were £501.9m, 28% higher than FY21, reflecting the inclusion of Tastytrade’s cost base, one-off and recurring non-cash costs in relation to the Tastytrade acquisition and integration, and costs relating to the sale of Nadex and Small Exchange,” the report stated.

Another potential blackspot was the number of total active clients – while the number increased from 291,200 to 381,500, a 31% increase; a pro-forma account that adjusts for M&A changes amounts to a 2% reduction from the previous year.

IG Group reported similar positive results in Q3 this year.