LeapRate Exclusive Interview… Our report on first half 2016 results out of binary options platform provider and operator TechFinancials Inc (LON:TECH) caught some of our readers by surprise.
While it was heavily rumored in the industry that TechFinancials was considering ‘options’ for its flagging OptionFair binary option brand, which had been a drag on results while the company continued to successfully build its software licensing platform business, 1H-2016 showed a very nice turnaround at TechFinancials’ ‘B2C’ division.
B2C revenues, including OptionFair, nearly tripled from the second half of 2015, giving the company a fairly healthy revenues balance between its B2B and B2C divisions.
So where does TechFinancials go from here?
Where is the growth coming from?
And what about the new Forex and Binary industry Association (news of which was exclusively unveiled by LeapRate)?
We’re pleased to present a brief discussion we had with one of the founding partners at TechFinancials, COO Jeremy Lange.
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LR: Hi Jeremy, and thanks for joining us today. First of all, congratulations on the company’s great First Half results you announced. The biggest change and improvement seems to be at TechFinancials’ B2C division (which includes your OptionFair brand, of course), which more than doubled its revenue from the second half of last year. What were the major factors which led to the turnaround?
Jeremy: Thanks, we’re indeed very proud of what we accomplished in the first half of this year, but there is still a lot of work for us to do. In 2015 the management of TechFinancials made a strategic decision to adopt a joint venture strategy in order to return the B2C business to profitability. This decision has been rewarded with the excellent results that we have reported for H1 2016.
LR: In your platform licensing business, which seems to keep steadily growing, where are you seeing the most growth and new clients? And where will you be putting most of your efforts going forward?
Jeremy: TechFinancials has already announced the launch of its Far East office based in Hong Kong. We have made a number of key staff hires and it is in this region that we are currently seeing the greatest growth for our licensing business.
LR: The binary options sector has come under attack lately from a number of corners, due to the actions of (mainly) unlicensed brokers using overly aggressive sales tactics, not returning client funds, etc. How does TechFinancials view the criticism? And how do you – as a publicly traded, regulated entity – either counter the criticism or go about branding TechFinancials and OptionFair away from the ‘bad guys’ giving the sector a bad name?
Jeremy: TechFinancials rightly enjoys an excellent reputation in the financial trading industry. This was one of the main factors that allowed us to list the Company. Unfortunately despite our efforts there is little that we can do to control every rogue company that abuses their clients’ trust and causes immense damage to the whole industry.
All we can really do is continue to treat our clients fairly, and deliver to them an excellent trading experience. Our hope is that traders out there increasingly recognize the importance of dealing with properly regulated brokers. Being a publicly traded company, TechFinancials provides an additional layer of transparency into our operations for our clients. But again, it all comes down to treating your clients in a fair and proper manner.
LR: We broke the story earlier this month of the new Industry Association which is being formed by a number of leading Forex and Binary Options brokers and platform providers, among them TechFinancials. Can you let us know a little more about where things stand. And, what you’d like the organization to accomplish over time.
Jeremy: The association is still in its formative stages and aims to be a lobbying and self-regulating body. I do not have anything significant to add over what you publicized a few weeks ago.
LR: In your financial results release you made mention of a new CFDs platform, as well as the Forex platform launched last year. Are either having an impact yet on the bottom line, or gaining traction with clients? Do you expect both to become a significant part of TechFinancials’ business?
Jeremy: Our Forex platform is gaining traction, and we see more clients trading with subsequent impact on the bottom line.
CFDs are still new, and will have impact for TechFinancials only later in 2016 and into 2017.
LR: What else can we expect to see from TechFinancials (and OptionFair) in the coming months?
Jeremy: TechFinancials will continue its geographical expansion into new territories such as Asia Pacific and the USA. The Company continues to add product enhancements as well as develop new financial instruments in order to bring trading to the reach of the retail trader.