Plus500 sales slump as board faces AGM fury as it rejects "baseless" blog allegations
A trading update from online forex broker Plus500, which lost two-thirds of its value last week on concerns for its financial health, faced angry questions from shareholders at its annual meeting but stated that although sales fell in the second quarter it continued to recruit new customers despite problems at its UK subsidiary.
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The Israeli company, which last week admitted it had been forced by UK regulators to freeze client accounts due to concerns about the laxity of its customer registration process, said in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting that it will take another month to work through this backlog.
numbers of new customers in April and May were higher than in the same months in 2014
The AIM-listed company was forced by the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure all clients provide proper levels of identification as part of stricter anti-money-laundering (AML) rules, with house broker Liberum calculating last week that the account freeze could seen between a third and a half of customers leave.
Plus500 admitted on Wednesday that trading and financial performance had been hit by these recent events but pointed out that numbers of new customers in April and May 2015 had been running at higher levels than in the same months in 2014.
But at the AGM, shareholders furiously demanded why they had not been informed for some time after customers about the freezing of accounts and why the shares were not been suspended immediately, pending clarification from the company.
Q: Key FCA requirement is treating customers fairly. You knew about 166 in January. Why didn't you tell customers? #plus500 #AGM
— Oscar Williams-Grut (@OscarWGrut) May 27, 2015
7 months counts as quick?! MT-@OscarWGrut Plus500 boss Gal: After learned of major failings we went ahead and fixed those extremely quickly.
— Peter Campbell (@Petercampbell1) May 27, 2015
Liberum suggested new accounts signups the second quarter so far had reached "at least circa 8,400".
After lifting revenues in the first quarter by 35% to $82.1m, the company said the "typically quieter" second quarter had so far seen sales of just $25.8m, with roughly $4m effect from the recent issues, compared with a full second quarter's $45.5m in 2014.
"Given that periods of less than a quarter can be volatile we recommend caution in extrapolating from these figures," the company said.
remediation is ongoing with 100% of accounts of the UK subsidiary temporary frozen as of 15 May
Liberum said the company looked to have been "on track for circa $50m" of revenue in the full quarter, a 39% decline versus the very strong first quarter but "is likely to due to relatively low market volatility in the second quarter to date as well as Easter".
"Given that remediation is ongoing with 100% of the accounts of the UK subsidiary temporary frozen as of 15 May it is clearly too soon to draw conclusions about revenues going forward," the broker added.
With around 40 staff working on clearing the AML backlog and improving compliance systems, the cost has been "conservatively" estimated by the company at $2m.
As it approached its 30 June half-year stage, Plus500 said it had cash of $92.2m as at 26 May, up from $88m even in the short time since last stated from 15 May.
blog comments on Plus500's accounting policies and business model were said to be "misrepresentative and baseless"
"The board is aware of recent press and blog commentary regarding Plus500's accounting policies and business model and rejects the assertions made as misrepresentative and baseless," it added.
"The board reiterates that the company's accounts, along with those of its subsidiary, Plus500UK Limited, have received unqualified audit opinions from PwC and the directors are comfortable with the disclosures made therein."
Cable Car Capital, a US hedge fund, had said on its website that it had taken a short position in the shares and claimed “inconsistencies among public filings” and a “material accounting discrepancy” between group and subsidiary accounts.
Responding about the restatement of its UK subsidiary's accounts and the implication that group revenue is substantially over-stated or a substantial amount is generated in unlicensed jurisdictions, Plus500 insisted that that "both assertions are incorrect".
"The application of the new Financial Reporting Standard 102 resulted in the reallocation of gross revenues attributable to Plus500UK's customers to Plus500 in the company's 2014 results. This also required the 2013 results to be restated. The reallocation has no impact on group consolidated revenue."
Chairman Alastair Gordon, a qualified chartered accountant, former Arther Anderson auditor and ex finance director at then-FTSE 250 copany SDL, said managenent was determined to restore Plus500's business "to full health".
"We are committed to ensuring that all of the group's regulated subsidiaries are enabled to operate in a fully compliant manner which is consistent with fair treatment of customers and market integrity.
"We assure customers and shareholders that Plus500 has a sustainable business model and is managed and governed by a board which is committed to transparency and robust compliance."
On Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase sold roughly 1.4m shares in the company, cutting its stake to 4.6%. Last week, Odey Asset Management, the London-based hedge fund run by Crispin Odey, increased its stake in Plus500 twice last week.
Analyst Sophie Blandford at Daniel Stewart said: "While there is a clear risk that the business model is permanently impaired, we will monitor the progress of the remedial action as this may prove the catalyst for a significant recovery."