US Forex broker FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) has just unveiled a set of really gloomy financial metrics for the first quarter of 2015, accompanied by a set of not so gloomy operating metrics for April 2015. The brokerage operating results for the previous month depicted the same performance pattern as that offered by many other retail FX companies, with trading volumes down from levels recorded in March 2015, but up compared to levels recorded in April 2014.
The retail Forex volumes in April 2015 amounted to $306 billion, down 7% from the result recorded in March 2015. An important thing to bear in mind is that the broker reports metrics for continuing operations which means that FXCM Japan and FXCM Hong Kong are excluded from the metrics (and the comparisons).
Institutional trading volumes also slid in monthly terms. They totaled $220 billion in April 2015, registering a drop of 10% from March 2015.
And here are the highlights, as reported by FXCM:
Retail Customer Trading Metrics
- Retail customer trading volume of $306 billion in April 2015, 7% lower than March 2015 and 37% higher than April 2014.
- Average retail customer trading volume per day of $13.9 billion in April 2015, 7% lower than March 2015 and 36% higher than April 2014.
- An average of 510,050 retail client trades per day in April 2015, 3% lower than March 2015 and 58% higher than April 2014.
- Tradeable accounts of 188,221 as of April 30, 2015, an increase of 3,045, or 2%, from March 2015, and an increase of 40,888, or 28%, from April 2014.
Institutional Customer Trading Metrics
- Institutional customer trading volume of $220 billion in April 2015, 10% lower than March 2015 and 25% higher than April 2014.
- Average institutional trading volume per day of $10.0 billion in April 2015, 10% lower than March 2015 and 25% higher than April 2014.
- An average of 55,018 institutional client trades per day in April 2015, 3% higher than March 2015 and 29% higher than April 2014.
To view FXCM’s detailed operating metrics for April 2015, click here.