, an online broker offering contracts-for-differences (CFDs) and forex trading services, has published its annual financial report ending on December 31, 2019, showing a net loss of £7.1 million, compared to an £11 million profit the previous year.
In the financial accounts filed with the UK’s Companies House, the broker detailed that before taxes, it recorded a loss of £8.3 million and its shareholders’ funds for the year also went down by 12.4 percent to £50 million.
The negative numbers were the result of a 46.7 percent drop in annual turnover – for 2019, the broker recorded £20.6 million in its total revenue, compared to £38.7 million in 2018. This massive drop was mainly due to the 42 percent fall in average trading volume on the platform.
ESMA’s restrictions turned out to be a major setback for brokers
“Trading volumes have been heavily impacted by leverage restrictions introduced by the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) in August 2018 and lower market volatility,” the filing noted.
Notably, the broker cited the implications of these restrictions in 2018 following a in its trading volume that year, Finance Magnates reported.
The recent financials also showed that the Group’s direct cost of sales fell by 10 percent in 2019 to £1.8 million, compared to £2 million in 2018, while its administrative expanse (excluding FX revelations) increased 8 percent £27.9 million.
Along with the negative numbers, the Group’s interest income increased significantly to £2.3 million from £0.8 million in 2018, primarily by the £1.8 million generated from its real estate lending.
Apart from the financials, the broker also revealed that it added 6,681 new customers in the year – a 7 percent fall from 2018. With this, the total number of clients at the end of the year stood at 15,972 clients.
Showing some positive trend, ActivTrades noted that the “trading volume across the Group averaged 46.3 yards (USD bn) for 2019, showing an upwards trend through the year.”
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