Some of the papers have looked at IG Group’s recent statement as either a) well done, or b) well done you have beaten your clients.
Our opinion is somewhere nearer the former. Of course you could argue that we are also biased towards IG and Spread Betting in general
IG provide a good service, they attract traders and they keep them trading. That is not Clean Financial’s opinion. That is the IG results talking. Yes they are the oldest spread betting company but that does not mean they should be, by default, the biggest. Just ask Yahoo.
So what have they done? What has led to record revenue and profit levels? 2,000 new IG Index spread betting accounts per month always helps.
Plus they offer a wide range of trading markets and options through spread bets, binary bets and contracts for difference (CFDs). All of which, depending upon how you price it up, means individual investors can gain exposure to a company’s share price more cheaply than if they bought the underlying share.
Steve Clutton, IG’s Finance Director, said “there is no sign that the beginnings of an economic downturn was deterring traders. Our typical client is not the first to feel the pinch in any kind of downturn.”
And what do you look like?
If you are the average trader with IG then you are a 37 year old man with circa £10,000 and £50,000 of disposable funds in the bank.
Should you bet on IG Group Shares?
Well, IG Group revealed a 40% increase in pre-tax profits to £99m for the year to May 31. Revenues were up 51% to £184 million. Naturally volatile markets are good for spread betting companies.
However, the share price dropped 12.6% to 305p as some analysts maintained their “hold” recommendation. Results were in line with expectations but profit taking was partly to blame for the fall. Daniel Havercroft of Investec, said: “The outlook statement is upbeat, with current trading remaining strong and the high levels of account growth...persisting. We do not envisage changing our future-year forecasts at this time and retain our Buy recommendation”.
Despite the FSA tightening up CFD disclosure rules in early July, Mr Clutton said the rules were unlikely to affect most IG customers as they do not take on such substantial exposure (any investor with a long CFD position of more than 3% is required to tell the market).
IG have also continued to expand overseas opening offices in France, Spain and the USA in the past year.
'IG Group Profits 2008' by DB, updated 25-Jul-08
For related pages also see:
IG Index, updated 12-Jun-08
IGIndex.com. First class online trading website, 24-hour dealing. Spreads: 2pt Daily FTSE, 4pt Daily Wall Street, 2pt Euro/USD, 3pt £/$...read article. IG Index Financial Spread Betting Markets, updated 16-Nov-07
IGIndex.com offers has live prices on FTSE 100, FTSE 250, Wall Street, Nasdaq 100, S+P 500, DAX, CAC, Forex...read article. IG Index, updated 24-Sep-07
An introduction for IG Index...read article. IG Index Prices, updated 05-Oct-08
IG Index Prices: A set of sample IG Index spreads and markets including the FTSE 100, Dow Jones (Wall St), Gold, Brent Crude Oil, EUR / USD and more...read article. IG Group Profits 2008, updated 25-Jul-08
IG provide a good service, they attract traders and they keep them trading. That is not Clean Financial's opinion. That is the IG results talking. Yes they are the oldest spread betting company but that does not mean they should be, by default, the biggest. Just ask...read article. IG Group Spread Betting, updated 04-Mar-08
IG Group trading information, where to find free IG Group charts and prices, how to spread bet on Shares, including the IG Group...read article.
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