2020 has started off with a bang for Plus500 after the company on Friday announced in one of its trading updates that it has seen a heightened period of market activity.
This relates in particular to the volume of trades it has experienced across global markets and how that has impacted the activity of customer trading. Due to this, Plus500, a company traded publicly on the London Stock Exchange, stated in its trade update that its performance financially for the first quarter is ahead of where it was at the same time last year.
Through the trading update, which the London Stock Exchange published through its news service, the company stated: “It is too early to say what impact this outperformance in the current quarter will have on the outcome for 2020 given heightened levels of volatility in the market may not persist, whilst the impact of Australian regulatory changes previously referred to is yet to be quantified.”
Is this related to coronavirus?
Plus500 didn’t not provide any exact details relating to the increase and therefore it is unknown the exact increase in trading or exactly how long customers experienced the heightened activity. However, it was pointed out by Reuters that the increase is a direct result of the Coronavirus, and the fears it will become a pandemic, which has seen the CBOE Volatility Index experiencing a two-year high.
It was also reported that Plus500 finished 2019 on a high note after the first half of 2019 was weak. The second half of 2019 saw the company’s revenue increase 40% to $206.5 million, an increase of $58 millin for the first half. Its net profit also increase substantially with it jumping $48.5 million in the second half over its first half, which translates into a 94% increase.