Leading globally regulated forex broker FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) today announced volume measurements for December 2014 for its retail and institutional business. Additionally, the firm adjusted its guidance on retail revenue per million for the fourth quarter 2014.
FXCM saw a nice month to end the year with retail customer trading volume of $439 billion in December 2014, 5% higher than November 2014 and 61% higher than December 2013. Moreover, institutional customer trading volume accounted for $321 billion in December 2014, 6% lower than November 2014 and 120% higher than December 2013.
FXCM reported its second best retail volume metric in company history for Dec 14
Detailed December 2014 Retail Trading Metrics
- Retail customer trading volume for the fourth quarter 2014 was $1.4 trillion, 40% higher than the third quarter 2014, and 53% higher than the fourth quarter 2013. Retail customer trading volume for the full year 2014 was $4 trillion, 0.5% lower than 2013. Volume from indirect sources was 47% of total retail volume in the fourth quarter 2014.
- Average retail customer trading volume per day of $20.9 billion in December 2014, no change from November 2014 and 54% higher than December 2013.
- An average of 595,126 retail client trades per day in December 2014, no change from November 2014 and 61% higher than December 2013.
- Tradable accounts of 230,579 as of December 31, 2014, a decrease of 1,728, or 1% from November 30, 2014, and an increase of 42,449, or 23%, from December 31, 2013.
Detailed December 2014 Institutional Trading Metrics
- Institutional customer trading volume for the fourth quarter 2014 was $1.1 trillion, 20% higher than the third quarter 2014, and 105% higher than the fourth quarter 2013. Institutional customer trading volume for full year 2014 was $3.1 trillion, 52% higher than 2013.
- Average institutional trading volume per day of $15.3 billion in December 2014, 11% lower than November 2014 and 110% higher than December 2013.
- An average of 43,981 institutional client trades per day in December 2014, 1% lower than November 2014 and 13% higher than December 2013.
Updated Company Guidance:
FXCM now expects retail revenue per million to be approximately $70 per million for the fourth quarter 2014 versus the $75-80 per million expectation given on the third quarter 2014 earnings call. Higher than expected volume from FXCM’s Japanese subsidiary as well as higher global trading in Yen currency pairs where pricing is typically more competitive were the primary contributors to the adjusted guidance. Additionally, there were a greater proportion of clients trading on FXCM’s new pricing plan in the quarter.
Over the course of the last four months, FXCM launched a new pricing model in selected geographic markets, offering unmarked up prices from its liquidity providers with a commission displayed separately. When compared to the markups offered on a number of the top currency pairs in these geographic markets, the new pricing could reduce client trading costs by as much as 60%.
“The new pricing FXCM introduced in the fourth quarter has been met with overwhelmingly positive feedback,” said Drew Niv, President and CEO of FXCM. “While we are still early into our launch, we are already seeing strong results – with those geographic markets that introduced the new pricing growing 76% in FX volume in the fourth quarter 2014 versus the prior quarter. That is almost double the 40% growth we saw in retail volume for FXCM as a whole.”
“We believe this new initiative was a major reason why we reported record volume in the fourth quarter in our retail business,” continued Niv. “More importantly, we believe it does not yet reflect the growth in our base of more active, high quality traders which we think will be attracted to the transparency our new plan brings and the tight pricing it offers. This could prove to be a major growth driver for FXCM in the coming quarters.”
To view the official release, click here.