CMC Markets plc (LON:CMCX) has announced its preliminary full year results for the period ended 31 March 2026
Net operating income up 15% and PBT up 20% with strong financial performance and accelerated strategic delivery.
Scaling at pace through institutional and B2B partnerships.
Strong start and positive outlook for FY2027.
CMC Markets plc announces its preliminary results for the period ended 31 March 2026. The financial information contained in this document is unaudited and does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.
Financial Performance
| FY2026 | FY2025 | Change | |
| Net operating income (£m) | 392.6 | 340.1 | 15% |
| EBITDA (£m) | 117.8 | 103.4 | 14% |
| Profit before tax (£m) | 101.3 | 84.5 | 20% |
| Profit before tax margin (%) | 25.8% | 24.8% | 1.0ppts |
| Basic earnings per share (pence) | 27.5 | 22.6 | 22% |
| Ordinary dividend per share (pence) | 13.8 | 11.4 | 21% |
Net operating income represents total revenue net of introducing partner commissions and betting levies. Profit before tax margin % is calculated as profit before tax as a percentage of net operating income.
Financial Highlights
· Net operating income of £392.6 million (FY2025: £340.1 million), up 15% year-on-year and representing the Group’s best performance on record outside of the FY2021 Covid-impacted year.
· Institutional and B2B income continued to scale during the year, supported by strong momentum from the neobank API partnership and ongoing diversification of the Group’s earnings base.
· Record performance in the Australian stockbroking business, with net operating income of A$140.3 million (FY2025: A$106.3 million) up 32% year-on-year, supported by continued growth in client activity and assets under administration.
· CapX private market investments contributed approximately £2.4 million of net trading income during the year, reflecting unrealised gains on strategic equity holdings.
· EBITDA of £117.8 million (FY2025: £103.4 million), with strong performance across the Group including Treasury Management and Capital Markets which delivered disciplined yield and liquidity optimisation, including approximately £5.5 million of treasury-related trading income.
· Profit before tax of £101.3 million (FY2025: £84.5 million), with a profit before tax margin of 25.8% (FY2025: 24.8%) as stronger net operating income was partially offset by the £5.2 million Australian remediation charge recognised in the first half.
· Final dividend of 8.3 pence per share, bringing the full-year dividend to 13.8 pence per share (FY2025: 11.4 pence), up 21% year-on-year.
Strategic & Operational Highlights
· Australian stockbroking partnerships with Westpac and ASB Bank progressing well and on track for launch within next 12 months. Westpac represents a transformational partnership, with approximately A$39 billion of assets under administration across half a million share-trading accounts.
· Neobank API partnership delivered exceptional growth in new account openings and trading activity, demonstrating scalable distribution through B2B partnerships.
· Multi-asset platform rollout commenced, including 24/5 US equities and 24/7 crypto and bullion, forming the foundation of the Super App.
· Invest UK continued to progress a Tier 1 institutional partnership with a major international bank and signed a partnership agreement with UK retailer Currys, supporting the expansion of the Group’s UK B2B footprint.
· Web3 and digital asset infrastructure advanced, with institutional-grade capabilities for trading, custody, funding and withdrawal of digital assets aligned to the Group’s multi-asset platform and Super App architecture.
· Operating model continues to evolve, with a focus on cost discipline, outsourcing and efficiency programmes to support scalability and operating leverage over the medium-term.
Outlook
· The Group has reached a key inflection point, with institutional and B2B partnerships providing access to large embedded client bases, enabling growth at scale with strong capital efficiency and attractive margins.
· The next 12 months are expected to be a defining period for the Group, with a number of significant initiatives scheduled to come online, including:
o Launch of the transformational Westpac and ASB Bank partnerships
o Expansion of the neobank API partnership
o Continued rollout of the multi-asset platform and progression towards the Super App
o Entry into European certificates and warrants market
o Ongoing development of tokenisation and digital asset infrastructure
o Strategic investments in major sponsorships, reinforcing brand presence and supporting growth in the retail and D2C segment
· Management remains focused on cost discipline, with efficiency programmes expected to support greater operating leverage over the medium-term.
· The Group has made a positive start to FY2027, with net operating income supported by continued momentum across institutional and B2B partnerships, an increasingly diversified product offering and sustained client activity.
· As a result, the Group expects FY2027 net operating income to increase by at least 17% year-on-year to between £460 million and £480 million, with operating costs (excluding variable remuneration) of approximately £280 million.
CEO Statement
FY2026 was another year of exceptional delivery for CMC, against a second half defined by extreme volatility. We have had tariffs, wars, de-dollarisation narratives, a parabolic move in gold and silver, persistent energy supply and demand tensions, and AI-driven speculative behaviour, especially across commodities.
This kind of volatility is often viewed as a tailwind for traditional D2C, or retail providers, which is broadly true. However, CMC today operates a very different and diverse business model. With performance significantly driven by B2B and wholesale, we are providing critical market infrastructure to our global partner platforms and their underlying clients.
It is vital, especially during extreme volatility, that our partners can rely on us to deliver real-time pricing, liquidity, execution, risk management and stability at scale – often across hundreds of thousands of partner clients. Our partners’ brand and reputation depend on our service.
Volatility does not simply drive activity – it tests the resilience, stability and scalability of our technology and operating model. We are, in effect, operating an exchange-level service to our partners.
During the most extreme volatility in FY2026, we continued to deliver strong performance for our clients and partners. This is not incidental; we have the experience and technology that has been built over many years and in the second half of FY2026 this was tested to the extreme.
It therefore gives me great pride that against this volatile backdrop CMC has delivered a strong financial performance whilst supporting our B2B and institutional partners, and executing against the most ambitious product and infrastructure programme in the Company’s history, with acceleration on all fronts:
· Multi-asset platform rollout commenced, forming the foundation of the Super App
· Web3 and DeFi infrastructure advanced towards operational capability
· Neobank API partnership saw strong and tangible results
· Invest UK continued to progress a Tier 1 institutional partnership with a major international bank
· Australian stockbroking business’ platform build for Westpac and ASB Bank partnerships progressing well
· Performance significantly driven by B2B and wholesale highlighting the increasing diversification of the earnings base and the strength of the Group’s institutional offering
· Financial performance remains strong with PBT up 20% and dividend for the full year up 21%
These achievements are not isolated. They are the result of a strategy that has been consistent for many years. Scale through partnerships has always been the strategy – scaling partnerships, scaling technological infrastructure and scaling CMC’s presence within the global financial ecosystem.
We have positioned the business at the intersection of established financial markets and the next generation of digital finance. Our ability to scale at speed across products, partners and platforms – whilst maintaining institutional-grade performance – has allowed us to occupy that position, and it is a powerful place to operate.
Neobank API – Another Successful Scalable Growth Engine
Scale through technology underpins everything we are building at CMC, and nowhere is this more evident than in our neobank API partnership.
During FY2026, we saw exceptional growth in account openings and trading activity. Such level of activity demonstrates the strength and scale of our B2B business model and our ability to support high-volume fintech partners through our proprietary technology infrastructure.
Our B2B business model enables CMC to expand geographically and in a capital efficient way reducing the need for significant marketing spend while delivering faster payback and stronger margins than traditional market entry. This is scalable growth with structural, long-term advantages for CMC.
CMC’s Evolution – Scaling a Multi-Asset Financial Platform
The shape of the business continues to evolve at pace, with CMC becoming increasingly diversified.
The Group delivered strong performances across its investing, institutional, treasury and international businesses, each contributing meaningfully to Group earnings and demonstrating the breadth of our growth engines.
This scalable technology infrastructure, product diversity, and distribution means CMC should no longer be seen as a traditional retail CFD provider.
During the year we successfully launched the first iteration of our multi-asset platform. This included out of hours trading with 24/5 US assets, 24/7 Crypto, 24/7 Bullion and Silver and our private equity marketplace – CMC CapX.
Looking ahead, that momentum is set to continue. In FY2027, we will roll out version two of the multi-asset platform, which will become the foundation for our Super App.
Our securities issuance programme (warrants and certificates) is now live and will scale across Europe, followed by Australia later in FY2027. Our options offering will expand and roll out across our different offices throughout the year, opening up new client segments.
Together, these initiatives will deepen client and partner engagement, broaden our addressable market and further strengthen the quality of our earnings.
The Super App – Financial Infrastructure for the Future
As a reminder, the Super App is intended to become the primary financial interface for clients and partners across our markets, bringing together trading, investing, payments, and broader financial services into a single, cohesive experience. One app. One ecosystem. One financial gateway.
However, the Super App represents more than an industry-leading product that unifies the financial universe. It underpins CMC’s new operating system for how we build and deliver technology – a unified front end, delivered through scalable and resilient backend services.
Early features will deliver visible benefits to our clients, but the deeper value lies in the underlying technology architecture which under our ownership and drive, will enable faster product expansion, broader distribution and support long-term growth.
CMC’s Super App is both a next-generation client platform and the engine that will power our future scale.
Web3 and Defi – Positioning CMC for the Change
Digital assets and tokenised finance represent the next structural evolution of global markets, and CMC is building the infrastructure required to participate in that evolution responsibly.
During FY2026, we focused on developing the crypto capabilities necessary to deliver a secure, regulated and institutional-grade experience for holding, trading, funding and withdrawing digital assets across our platforms globally. This is being implemented to the same high standards that underpins CMC’s core business.
Our crypto infrastructure is fully aligned with the Super App architecture and will form a core component of our multi-asset ecosystem, integrating digital assets alongside traditional financial markets.
CMC Invest – Record Performance & Landmark Partnerships
CMC Invest delivered another year of record performance. Key metrics reached new highs across active investors, trading activity, new account growth and assets under administration.
During the year, the Australian stockbroking business secured what I believe to be our most significant B2B partnership to date – a white-label agreement with Westpac. When complete, we will have approximately $130 billion of client assets under administration, moving up from approximately $90 billion. This deal has the potential to be transformational for the business and, is expected to be even more significant than the landmark ANZ deal in 2021.
Alongside our previously announced partnership with ASB Bank in New Zealand, both programmes are now progressing through the build phase, with launch targeted during 2027.
But it’s not just Australia that has seen significant milestones in the year. Invest UK continued to progress a Tier 1 institutional partnership with a major international bank to implement and operate a white-label investment and savings platform, as well as signing a partnership agreement with UK retailer Currys, supporting the expansion of the Group’s UK B2B footprint.
Financial Performance & Dividend
CMC delivered another year of strong growth in FY2026 – our best year outside of the FY2021 Covid-impacted results – with net operating income increasing to £392.6 million (FY2025: £340.1 million), driven by high levels of client activity, strong performance from our Australian stockbroking business and continued momentum from our B2B and neobank API partnerships.
Profit before tax was £101.3 million (FY2025: £84.5 million), with a margin of 25.8% (FY2025: 24.8%), representing a strong increase despite the further provision for margin-netting in Australia announced in H1.
Alongside this growth, we continue to evolve our operating model, leveraging outsourcing, offshore capabilities and technology to improve efficiency while maintaining delivery across our strategic programmes.
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 8.3 pence, bringing the full-year dividend to 13.8 pence and reflecting our continued policy of distributing 50% of full-year profit to shareholders.
Outlook – Delivering Growth at Scale
CMC has reached a very exciting inflection point, and we now stand ready to enter the next phase of growth, driven by the scale of the platform and infrastructure we have built over recent years.
Our institutional strategy has created a more diversified, scalable and resilient business model, supported by long-term partnerships, embedded distribution and high-quality recurring client activity. We have a clear competitive advantage in this space, built on reputation, delivery, experience and, frankly, a lack of meaningful competition.
These partnerships give us access to vast client ecosystems that we can scale efficiently. This has already been demonstrated through our neobank partnership, which has delivered exceptional account growth, and in Australia where we have built the second largest stockbroker following the transformational ANZ partnership.
Importantly, the scale and profitability of this institutional platform now also allows us to increase investment back into D2C and retail growth. Through our new brand identity, enhanced onboarding, expanded product capability, multi-asset platform rollout and strategic sponsorship investments, we are positioning CMC for the next phase of retail client acquisition and engagement globally.
The next 12 months are expected to be a defining period for the Group, with Westpac and ASB Bank expected to come online, continued rollout of our Super App, further expansion of our neobank partnership and ongoing momentum across both our investing and retail platforms.
As founder and majority shareholder, my interests remain firmly aligned with all shareholders. I have never sold a share since IPO, and I have no plans to sell any for the foreseeable future. I am building this business for the next decade – and we are building it together.
I truly believe we are fundamentally different from other listed companies in our sector – a business built on technology and delivering that technology at scale. The next chapter for CMC is just beginning.
Lord Cruddas
04 June 2026
Webcast:
An analyst and investor presentation will be available on our website from 09.00am on 04 June 2026:
https://www.cmcmarkets.com/group/investors/results-reports-and-presentations
