Plus500 hikes outlook amid stock market volatility
The London-listed firm saw underlying earnings jump by 23% to 93.8 million US dollars (£70.5 million) in the first quarter.
Online trading platform Plus500 has said full-year results will be better than forecast after a boost from turbulent financial markets amid a mounting global trade war.
The London-listed group said it had made an “excellent” start to the year, with revenues up 13% at 205.8 million US dollars (£154.8 million) in the first quarter, helping underlying earnings jump by 23% to 93.8 million US dollars (£70.5 million).
Plus500 also said it added another 26,897 customers in the first three months of 2025, up 16% year on year and more than a quarter higher – up 26% – since the end of last year.
It now has 130,514 active customers.
The firm said: “The group has made an excellent start to the year, driven by recent macroeconomic and financial market conditions among other factors.
“Therefore, the company’s board of directors anticipates that the full-year 2025 results will be ahead of current market expectations.”
Financial markets worldwide have been thrown into recent turmoil after US President Donald Trump has waged a global trade war.
There are fears it could hit global growth and possibly send the US into a recession if Mr Trump presses ahead with planned tariff hikes and if countries retaliate across the board.
While he paused wider tariff increases for many countries, he has already raised the tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, with China hitting back with a reciprocal 125% increase on US goods.
Markets have see-sawed over the past month as the trade battle has escalated.
As well as being buoyed by the market conditions, Plus500 said it was also benefiting from recent acquisitions, such as the takeover of Mehta Equities in India.
David Zruia, chief executive of Plus500, cheered the strong start to the year and “strategic progress across several important pillars of growth”.
He said: “Our futures business continued to expand with the recent acquisition of Mehta Equities in India, which will enable us to deliver valuable synergies with our US futures business as we continue to establish our global futures offering.”