London Stock Exchange filings confirm that Plus500 revenue in H1 2026 reached $462.9 million, its highest in three years and up 12% year on year, but a widening gap between top-line growth and profit left some holders of the stock with a question worth examining.
Plus500 Revenue H1 2026: Reading the Margin Gap
Customer Income, the metric Plus500 uses for revenue directly generated from clients, rose 24% year on year to $460.8 million, a five-year high, according to the Investegate company announcement. Yet EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, a standard measure of operating profitability) grew just 1% to $187.5 million. The company increased spending to bring in new clients, and both new and active client numbers softened in the second quarter after a strong start to the year.
Part of the first-half momentum came from new directions. Plus500 expanded into US prediction markets through new CFTC-regulated sports event-based contracts and launched a localised OTC trading platform in Canada. The broker’s non-OTC business, which includes its US futures operations, now accounts for around 15% of group revenue. Plus500 ended June debt free with more than $850 million in cash and maintained its full-year guidance.
The picture for income-focused holders is that revenue is growing fast, but rising client acquisition costs are absorbing much of the gain at the profit line. Whether that spending translates into durable client relationships, or simply inflates the cost base, is what the second-half numbers will need to answer.
IG Group’s Jersey Restructure Comes with a Revenue Surge Attached
IG Group drew attention this week not only for its proposal to establish a new Jersey-incorporated holding company but for the trading update that accompanied it. The broker expects total revenue of approximately £643 million for the half year ended 30 June 2026, up around 18% on the prior year, with organic revenue of approximately £624 million, up around 16%, according to LeapRate. Around two-thirds of that revenue is now generated outside the UK.
The geographic spread makes the structural change easier to understand. IG plans to retain its London Stock Exchange listing, UK tax residence and UK regulatory standing: under the proposal, IG Group Holdings plc remains the head of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-supervised regulatory group, according to the FT Markets announcement. What changes is the ultimate parent, which moves to Jersey to give the group more flexibility for acquisitions and capital allocation across multiple jurisdictions.
Shareholders can expect a circular in Q3 2026, with the scheme of arrangement targeted to become effective in Q4 2026, according to RTTNews. Alongside the restructure, IG is folding its three regional commercial divisions into a single unit, IG Consumer, led by Michael Healy, with changes taking effect in the second half of 2026.
Bhaskar Dasgupta, Principal of Sun Foundation, writing for Finance Magnates, argued that ‘good governance is ultimately about preserving optionality’ and that ‘strong boards rarely redesign corporate structures because a transaction is imminent’ but because ‘flexibility itself has become a competitive advantage.’ IG’s full-year guidance, upgraded on 19 May 2026, calls for organic total revenue to grow 10-15% year on year from a 2025 base of approximately £1,100 million, with EBITDA margins in a mid-40s per cent range.
Revolut Steps Closer to UAE Crypto Operations
Revolut, which says it serves more than 75 million customers worldwide including more than 16 million crypto customers globally, received in-principle approval from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to provide virtual asset services in the United Arab Emirates. The approval, obtained through Revolut Digital Assets FZE, covers broker-dealer, management and investment, and exchange services. Final regulatory approvals are still required before trading can begin.
Once authorised, eligible UAE customers will be able to access cryptocurrency services through both the Revolut app and Revolut X. The move follows the company’s earlier approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to conduct payments activities, building out a locally regulated ecosystem in the country.
Alpha Futures, Fraud, and the Week’s Other Moves
The week opened with a public dispute between NinjaTrader and prop firm Alpha Futures. NinjaTrader cited an alleged overdue payment as the basis for terminating its agreement; Alpha disputed this, publishing invoices and payment records, and argued the real trigger was the launch of its competing AlphaTrader platform. Traders were left facing cancelled Premium accounts and unpaid payouts, reviving concerns about payout security in evaluation-based prop trading models (where traders pay for a funded account assessment rather than trading their own capital).
FundedNext added an AI layer to its platform, launching a Model Context Protocol server allowing traders to connect accounts with assistants including ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. The integration is read-only: the AI cannot execute trades or change account settings, with authentication handled through OAuth 2.0.
Tickmill UK broadened beyond forex and CFDs through a partnership with Interactive Brokers, giving eligible clients access to stocks, ETFs, options, futures and bonds. Trading accounts and custody remain with Interactive Brokers UK.
Dutch and Belgian authorities dismantled an alleged international investment fraud network said to have generated around €100 million a month at its peak, operating approximately 20 call centres with more than 700 people posing as financial advisers. Six suspects were arrested. Victims were shown fictitious profits on fraudulent platforms before funds were transferred, often via cryptocurrency, and many were subsequently targeted by fake recovery firms.
The Q4 2026 date for IG Group’s restructure to take effect is the clearest near-term trigger for holders of the stock to monitor: if the shareholder circular in Q3 draws governance objections, the timeline shifts and the proposed US listing exploratory work stalls with it.
