XTB Archives - The Industry Spread

Piotr Łągiewski Appointed as Head of Product Development at Match-Trade Technologies

June 12, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: CFD, CRM, Cryptocurrencies, Fintech, Forex, Match-Trade Technologies, XTB

US based fintech firm Match-Trade Technologies which is known as provider of Forex and Cryptocurrency related tech services made an announcement earlier today that it has shifted its European division head office to a larger building in Warsaw, Poland. The company also announced that it has appointed Piotr Łągiewski who joined the firm last month as the Head of its Product Development division. As per details in the statement released by the firm, the relocation of their European head office was necessitated owing to increasing demand for their products namely Trunkey forex white label platform and cryptocurrency solutions for brokers. The address of the new head office is 5^Th floor, Królewska, 18^th Street, business centre, Warsaw. The new office is said to be capable of accommodating and supporting the firm’s growing IT, client support and business advisory teams as per details in the company statement.

Prior to his current role at Match- Trade Technologies, Piotr Łągiewski served at Warsaw based Forex & CFD trading service provider X-Trade Broker for more than eight years in capacity of Product Owner as per the details mentioned in his LinkedIn profile. During his tenure at X-Trade Broker, Piotr helped in creating and developing a number of products focused on forex sector. One of his most popular products available at XTB is known as xStation, a web based platform that can handle CRM, client office and facilitate web trading feature. In his new role as head of product development at Match-Trade Technology, Piotr is responsible for directing their product development plans and process and will also be responsible for the team handling the launch of a new product which will be offered by the company later this year.

Menazone

The company has also launched a new website featuring new design and new structure for brokers to access the firm’s products and tech solutions. The company is seeing steady sharp growth in European market as evident from their need to relocate to bigger officer in Warsaw given the fact that it has just been a year since the US based firm opened an office in Poland to expand its business operations in Asia and Europe which came from increased demand in European market. When speaking about the firm’s decision to relocate to a larger office building, Michael Karczewski, Head of Business Operations at Match-Trade Technology commented, “As a global company, we work with clients around the world, and we have offices in Asia and the United States of America. Right now, we are establishing a local representation for the MENA zone countries. Warsaw is a perfect location in the centre of Europe and Poland with rapidly growing fintech industry is attracting high-class IT experts”.

Please feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

XTB Publishes Preliminary Q1, FY 2019 Financial Report, Results Weighed Down by Strict ESMA Regulations

April 27, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: CFD Trading, currency, financial report, financial results, Forex, Preliminary Q1, product intervention, Revenue, Strict ESMA Regulations, XTB

Poland-based global leader in Forex and CFD trading, XTB has reported its first quarter results for the FY 2019. The broker reported a subdued performance during the quarter, still feeling the pinch of change of regulations by ESMA, which has affected almost all the brokers operating in the European region.

The broker on Thursday released preliminary financial results for the first quarter of 2019, reporting a 4.4 per cent or PLN 1.9 million ($492,851) or decline in net revenue quarter-on-quarter, falling down from PLN 42.8 million in the previous quarter to PLN 40.9 million.

The product intervention measures from ESMA had a large effect on the results for the first quarter, which resulted in lower volatility and customer engagement.

The revenue share from contracts-for-difference (CFD) instrument based on currency pair came in at 1.1 per cent during the quarter, marking a huge drop from the same time period last year, which contributed 29.2 per cent to the revenue share.

Out of all traded currency pairs, the EUR/USD currency pair is the most popular among XTB clients and revenue generated from the currency CFDs is PLN 433,000. The biggest CFD class instrument to contribute to revenue was CFDs based on stock indices, recording a total share of 89.3 per cent to total revenue, up from 57.5 per cent a year earlier.

During the quarter, revenue was primarily driven by demand for CFD instruments based on the German DAX stock index (DE30), US indices US500, US100 and US300 indices.

Looking at the full year, the report said:
“The Management Board expects in 2019 operating expenses to be at a level comparable to that observed in 2018. The final level will depend on the variable remuneration elements paid to employees, the level of marketing expenditures and the impact of ESMA’s product intervention on the level of revenues generated by the Group.”

XTB Reports Solid Full Year Revenue Growth in FY 2018 with Highest Number of New Clients Added in Q4, 2108

March 12, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Brokers, Capital Markets, CFD, financial services, HTML5, trading platform, X Open Hub, XT5, XTB

The Poland-based multi-asset brokerage house, X-Trade Broker (XTB) has published its last quarter (Q4) and full year financial results for the FY 2018. The company in 2018 achieved stronger revenue growth as-well-as the highest number of new clients added during the final quarter.

The full-year revenue for the company came in at PLN 288.3 million ($75 million), which is higher by 5 per cent compared to last year. The operating profits didn’t grow as compared to growth in revenue because of increased spending on marketing activities and salaries. The operating profit came in at PLN 115.5 million ($30 million). However, the net profits recorded an increase of 9 per cent year-on-year to reach PLN 124 million ($32 million).

XTB in its final quarter was able to add significant numbers of new clients with total 5,724 clients added during the quarter, with the total number of clients coming in at 20,672 at the end of the year. The increase in new client addition is a remarkable feat for the company as it has been a very difficult year for the industry, owing to a slew of regulatory challenges.

However, despite recording increased client addition, the number of active clients have been slowly grinding lower throughout the year, reaching 21,279 in Q4. The figure is somewhat 14 per cent higher compared to the final quarter of 2017, placing the company in a very strong position for the year forward.

Despite an increase in the addition of new clients, the total deposits with the brokerage declined by 7 per cent throughout the year. Trading volume too followed the downward trajectory with 5 per cent decline year-on-year. Profitability per lot also hit a multi-year low in Q4 to 3PLN ($24) per lot, which is 32 per cent lower compared to the third quarter of 2018.

The brokerage shift of focus towards retail business has taken a negative toll on the performance of the institutional segment. The company’s institutional brand, X Open Hub revenues halved to about PLN 18.8 million ($5 million). In October last year, the company has launched a new platform for the X Open Hub called XT5, which is built using HTML5 technology.

In terms of revenue share, a major part is denoted by index CFDs at 49.6 per cent, followed by currency CFDs at 23.5 per cent and commodities CFD denoted at 24.3 per cent revenue. XTB’s growing presence in Latin America helped it to offset the declining trading revenues from the Western European region. The company’s Central and Eastern European segment showed a positive turn, despite a decline in the domestic market.

Polish FX Broker, XTB Witnesses Weak Financial Performance in Q4,2018, Revenue Slides by Over 44%

February 11, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: brokerage, Brokers, Capital Markets, CFD and FX Broker, financial services, fiscal year, investment, KNF, q4, XTB

Publicly-listed Polish FX and CFD broker, X-Trade Brokers has released its preliminary Q4, 2018 and full fiscal year 2018 financial results, showing missing estimates and a huge drop in revenue.

In the final quarter of 2018, the decline was reported in both revenue and net income, but according to the latest preliminary report, key components of the business showed positive year-on-year growth.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the total operating revenue during the period came in at $11.23 million (PLN 42.7 million), which is 44 per cent lower from over $20 million (PLN 76 million) in Q4, 2017. However, on a yearly basis, the total full-year revenue came in at $75.7 million ‎(PLN 288.3 million)‎, a gain of 5 per cent compared to PLN 274.6 million in the previous fiscal year. But, in dollar terms, due to the impact of foreign exchange rate changes the figure is lower year-over-year from over $82 million reported in fiscal 2017.

In terms of net profits during the final quarter of 2018, it dropped to $1.18 million (PLN 4.49 million), which is seven-times lower than what was posted in Q4, 2017 which was at PLN 37.6 million. On the yearly timeframe, the weak performance in Q4 is managed by the strong performance in the rest of 2018 and posted a net profit of $26.8 million (PLN 101.99 million), up nearly 10 per cent compared to PLN 92.9 million in the year prior. Apart from the local currency devaluation, the net profit is nearly $27.8 million lower compared to a year ago.

In terms of the average number of active accounts in Q4, 2018, the figure dropped during the quarter with only 20,568 active accounts, slightly down from 20,909 in Q4, 2017. New accounts were also down, falling 15.7 per cent lower year-over-year to 13,930 in Q4, 2018, to 16,530 accounts in Q4, 2017.

In the third quarter, XTB’s Q3 result was adjusted to reflect a one-off event, which was a result of the imposition of an administrative fine by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). The regulatory agency imposed a penalty of PLN 9.9 million ($2.7 million) for “irregularities in the execution of client orders”, as per the statement from the regulator.

XTB Report Sharp Drop in Revenue and Profitability in Q3-2018 Driven by ESMA Regulations

November 10, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: brokerage, CFD Trading, ESMA, Forex, PFSA, Retail Fx, Trading Volumes, XTB

The Polish retail Fx brokerage firm, XTB after reporting fairly strong H1-2018 results, now has reported a weak set of Q3-2018 results mainly due to the negative impact of implementation of ESMA regulations coupled with lower volatility in the market. During the period, the firm also reported lower trading volumes in CFD trading.

XTB operates retail arm XTB.com and X Open trading platform has reported total revenue of PLN 47.6 million (USD $12.7 million) for the three months period, which is 43 percent lower compared to PLN 84.2 million in Q2-2018. The first quarter result was the best-ever quarter for the brokerage firm with record revenues of PLN 113.7 million.

The company reported a net loss of PLN 2.9 million in the third quarter, majorly due to a one-off event that led to firm paying administrative fines of PLN 9.9 million to PFSA. Excluding the one-off event, the profit is reported at PLN 6.2 million which is significantly less than that achieved in the same quarter in 2017 of PLN 31.3 million.

Despite the decline in trading volumes due to the implementation by ESMA of a 30x leverage cap on Forex and CFD trading, a number of new clients continued to grow with 16.3 percent year on year growth. New clients in Q3 totaled 4,884 and the average number of active clients higher by 11 percent year on year or 2014.

In revenue breakup, 59 percent of the total revenue was contributed by Commodity CFDs i.e PLN 27.9 million, and Index CFDs contributed just 18.6 percent to the revenue. The currency CFDs recorded a revenue of PLN 10.4 million in the third quarter, which is not in line with the expectation of the broker as it dropped over 64 percent to PLN 18.9 million from the prior year period. Total revenue generated from CFDs is PLN 47.3 million in the Q3-2018 compared to PLN 72.5 million in the same period year earlier, signifying a drop of 33 percent.

XTB Shines in the First Half of 2018, Reports Record Breaking Earnings for H1-2018

August 23, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: broker, brokerage, CFD brokerage, commodity CFD, currency CFDs, currency pairs, earnings, foreign exchange, Forex, Operating income, profit, Revenue, trading activity, volatility, XTB

Leading European Fx & CFD brokerage group, XTB has reported one of its most successful first-half earnings for 2018 today. The preliminary H1-2018 earnings report witnessed a significant increase in revenue and profit. The growth in revenue and profits was largely contributed by increased trading activity on the back of high volatility in the market and large numbers of new clients added during the period.

During the six months ended on June 30, 2018, operating income for the broker came in at €46.7 million ($53.5 million), a healthy increase of 37 per cent or €17.2 million compared to last year. The Net Profits for the brokerage group increased almost three times €23.7 million as compared to €6.9 million in the first half of 2017. In both revenue and net profits front, the company posted a very impressive number.

The Net Cash from operating activities also witnessed a near 100 per cent growth compared to first half of last year, coming in at €30.6 million as against €1.5 million in H1, 2017. Looking at the broker’s foreign exchange operations, it was too positive with total forex gains during the period coming in at €1.6 million. This is a positive development as XTB had no gains in the first half of 2017.

The foreign exchange loss too came down significantly during the period by almost three times to €777,290. The broker had reported forex loss of €2.9 million in the first half of last year. The total value of CFDs during the period came in at €45 million, higher by 36 per cent compared to last year’s first half. The total value of currency CFDs increased by 29 per cent to €13.5 million.

In terms of revenue for the broker, CFD instruments based on currency pairs shared 29.3 per cent of total revenue against 31.9 per cent a year earlier. The EUR/USD currency pair was the most sought-after among clients and commodity CFD also reported higher activity with value increasing by almost 45 per cent to hit €7.6 million.

During the period XTB added 10,046 new clients, an increase of 24 per cent year-on-year and also the number of active clients during the period went up by 25 per cent or 4,387 from the first half of 2017.

XTB Reports Significant Growth in Revenue and Profits in H1-2018, But Witnessed Soft Q2 Growth over Q1

August 7, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: CFDs, Fx broker, Operating income, operating results, Revenues, X Open Hub, X Trade Brokers, XTB

Polish FX broker X-Trade Brokers (XTB) has announced its preliminary financial and operating results for the first half of 2018. The firm has witnessed a relatively cooler Q2 compared to Q1, that recorded revenues at PLN 84.2 million (USD $22.8 million), down by 26 per cent from Q1’s record at PLN 113.7 million.

The total revenues for the first half of 2018, came in at $53.6 million (PLN 197.9 million) which is 37 per cent higher compared to the first half of 2017. Looking at the revenues in terms of asset class, CFDs dominated the first half of 2018 that made 51 per cent of the total revenue. Operating income recorded significant advancement with operating profit coming in at $53.7 million (PLN 198 million), an increase of $19.7 million (PLN 72.6 million) or 37 per cent year-on-year.

The retail segment contributed $50.7 million (PLN 186.9 million) to the revenue (up by 44 per cent year-on-year. The institutional segment (X Open Hub) recorded a significant loss which was down by 83 per cent at $3 million (PLN 11 million). The Consolidated Net Profits in the first half of 2018 came in at $27.4 million (PLN 101.1 million), compared to $7.97million (PLN 29.4 million) in the first half of 2017, and impressive growth of 244.5 per cent.

The company said that, in the following quarters of 2018, it will focus on improving stability in addition of new clients and an average number of active clients at the levels observed in the previous quarters, which contributed to the record revenues. The company sees great potential for business growth in German, French and Latin America markets.

The company also said that the revenues in the first half of 2018 are geographically well diversified and growth happened in both Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Poland generated 32.3 per cent and Spain generated 15 per cent of total revenue. Latin America is also gaining significance in the company’s operation which has already replaced Turkey.

The company announced that it plans to publish its final financial and operating results for the first half of 2018 on August 23, 2018.

Former Head of Leverate Cyprus Joins FX Broker XTB

May 14, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Costas Michael, FCA regulated, Forex, FX brand, FX brokerage, Leverate, X Trade Brokers, XTB, XTB.com, Yaara Rozenblat

The Cyprus-based forex exchange broker, Leverate has witnessed a host of executive moves last week. Its General Manager and Head of CySEC licensed Leverate Financial Services Ltd., Costas Michael left after a six years of stint with the company in which four years in the mentioned position. He has joined Leverate from TFI Markets and now will be joining X Trade Brokers Dom Maklerski SA (WSE: XTB), that operates the FCA regulated XTB.com, the retail FX brand where he will be heading the XTB’s Cyprus office.

Micheal’s exit from Leverate triggered series of elevation to fill in his position. Pantelis Christou, who was serving as a Leverate’s Head of Brokerage Department in Cyprus for the last four years has been appointed as General Manager of Leverate Cyprus and filling in his role will be Pavlos Antoniou, who has been Brokerage Department Officer at Leverate for the past two years.

Pavlos Antoniou, Leverate Cyprus

In another significant executive move, Leverate has hired Jovana Grozdanic for Compliance / AML in Cyprus. A role which is paid utmost importance in the Fx brokerage world, given the increasing nature of regulatory compliance in the sector. Ms Jovana joins Leverate from another Cysec regulated B.O. Tradefinancials Ltd, owned by binary options platform and brokerage provider TechFinancials Inc (LON: TECH) where she worked for less than a year. Before this, she has worked with then-closed Saxo Bank’s Cyprus unit from 2014-2017.

Leverate over the past year has witnessed many senior levels personnel exits after it has gone through an extensive restructuring process. In March this year, it has hired former Wix.com executive Yaara Rozenblat as Head of Marketing and in last summer, it has brought in Yasha Polyakov, a former Playtech executive as its new group CEO.

XTB Exits Turkish Market as Regulatory Changes Limits Forex Business Activities

April 21, 2018 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: forex broker, forex business, regulators, Regulatory Changes, XTB

XTB, the Polish forex broker has firmed up its plan to exit the Turkish market after it first indicated about the move to suspend business activities in the country in November 2017 due to the limitation to forex business enforced by Turkish regulator.

The company in its official statement said that it is withdrawing registration with Capital Market Board (CMB) of Turkey. Earlier this year, the authorities introduced several limitations on forex regulations which affected XTB’s operations. The decision to exit the Turkish market by XTB follows after the regulators gave no indication of intention to revise the limitations. The decision to exit the market was also aided by recent economic and political situation in Turkey which adversely affected the business environment and also triggered uncertainty in this ‎market.‎

The broker will now look to accelerate its expansion plans and setting high international growth in Latin American nations, Africa and Asia. While addressing to shareholders, the company management said that it will use its presence in Belize as starting point to expand its business in Latin American countries.

“Thanks to the ‎presence in Belize, the group can offer Latin American customers a region-specific ‎service and adopts its marketing strategies to local conditions.‎”

Stating about the exit from Turkish market, it said, drastic changes in regulatory structure affected the business which saw a considerable decline in customers and thus reduced the activity of XTB Group in Turkey. It explains that the total financial cost of withdrawing from Turkey cannot be ascertained now due recent jump in Turkish lira volatility so it will be reflected in future statements.

According to information available from the XTB website, there will be significant cost reflection of shut down of its Turkish operations. It will require that the value of shares of its Turkish subsidiary be written off which amounts to $2.55 million and will separately write-off value of other intangible assets which amounts approximately $1.47 million.