IG Group Holdings share price down after company reports small dip in profit but also net trading revenue growth in half year results
IG Group Holdings today revealed profit before tax of £98.6m for the six months ended 30 November 2015, down 2.8 per cent from £101.4m last year.
Despite this, net trading revenue growth for the derivatives trading company was stronger, increasing 8.8 per cent to £214.8m, up from £197.4m the year before, while new client numbers were ahead of the company's prior year by 35 per cent.
Administrative expenses for IG Group were up 18.7 per cent, with the company citing continued investment in growth.
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Shares in the company dropped following the announcement, trading down 0.5 per cent cent at 740p shortly before 9am.
"The business continues to perform well and I am pleased with the progress on the strategic initiatives we are investing in to underpin the future growth of the company," said Peter Hetherington, chief executive of IG Group.
These results are the first set of half year figures Hetherington has presented since taking up the chief executive post, having first joined IG Group as a graduate trainee in 1994.
Hetherington continued: "During my time here, IG has grown from a small phone-based UK trading company with around 25 employees, to a global leader in online trading with over 1,400 employees in 20 countries. But, as much as I am proud of the past, I am more excited about the future."
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Meanwhile, Andy Green, the group's chairman, remarked that the board was pleased with its decision to appoint Hetherington and that the search for a permanent finance chief was underway.
Green added: "Peter and his management team have begun to sharpen the execution of the company’s strategy to ensure we take advantage of positive trends and deliver the next phase of growth."
Last Friday, the company revealed that it was appointing Mark Ward as interim finance chief. Ward is a senior partner at Deloitte and his firm will be sending him to IG Group on a secondment starting on 25 January.