It has certainly been a year of the haves and have-nots among publicly traded retail forex brokers. And as it should be, share prices seem to be following results and momentum in the ‘real’ world.
On the one end of the spectrum is Plus500 (LON:PLUS), up more than 500% since its IPO last summer and now valued at more than $1 billion. But it seems like a lot more than froth – Plus500 reported a more than 200% increase in Q1 revenues this year, and has seen investors such as JP Morgan build their stake in the company.
In the middle, industry leaders FXCM, Gain Capital (Forex.com) and IG Group have seen moderate volatility this year lead to so-so volume and financial results – and not surprisingly share prices that are higher than they were last year, but still well off their highs.
And then there is LCG.
London Capital Group (LON:LCG) 1-year share price graph. Source: Google Finance.
It has been a tough year for the London-based spreadbetting company. Q1 revenues at London Capital Group were off 38% from last year. While label client Tradefair ended its relationship with LCG. And a planned £15 million convertible loan note from a prominent investor in trading platforms was announced several weeks ago but apparently hasn’t yet closed.
It seems clear that to reverse course and regain the confidence of stock market investors, LCG simply has to show results moving in the right direction again.