# Plus500 Ltd appoint CEO and provide half year trading update

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/plus500-ltd-appoint-ceo-and-provide-half-year-trading-update/412839604
- Published: 2020-07-07T08:12:41+01:00
- Author: Giles Arbor

**Plus500 Ltd** (LON:PLUS), a leading technology platform for trading Contracts 
for Difference internationally, has issued the following trading update for the 
six months ended 30 June 2020, as well as the appointment of a permanent Chief Executive
Officer. 

**Appointment of CEO**

Following an extensive internal and external search carried out by the Board, the
Company announces that David Zruia has been appointed as permanent Chief Executive
Officer, having held the role on an interim basis since 20 April 2020. David joined
Plus500 in 2010 and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in 2013.

**Half Year Trading Update**

Further to the Company’s recent trading updates, issued on 28 April 2020 and 8 June
2020, market volatility remained heightened throughout the second quarter. This 
drove a consistently high level of customer trading activity which, together with
the onboarding of a significant number of New Customers^(1) at an attractive cost,
ensured a record number of Active Customers^(2) trading on the Plus500 platform 
during H1 2020. 198,176 New Customers were onboarded during H1 2020 (H1 2019: 47,540),
including 115,225 New Customers in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: 26,234).

As a result, total revenue for H1 2020 was circa $564.2m^(3) (H1 2019: $148.0m),
including circa $247.6m^(3) in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: $94.1m), demonstrating the strength,
scalability and differentiation of the Group’s business model. The Company achieved
a record level of half yearly Customer Income^(4), of approximately $556.9m (H1 
2019: $175.0m), including circa $323.4m in Q2 2020 (Q2 2019: $93.0m). Furthermore,
the period-end position of Customer Trading Performance^(5) reverted to insignificant
historical levels, with revenues from Customer Trading Performance representing 
approximately 1% of the total revenues in the period.

The unprecedented market environment during the period, the consistently high level
of quality and performance of Plus500’s market-leading proprietary technology platform
and the continued dedication and hard work of our employees in extremely challenging
circumstances ensured that customer retention remained strong.

The Company’s financial position remains robust, driven by the strong EBITDA margin
achieved during the period and continued high cash generation, as well as the minimal
capital expenditure requirements and the low capital intensity of the business.

Despite a background of on-going uncertainty regarding the duration of current levels
of volatility, and the unquantified potential impact from regulatory changes in 
Australia, the Board remains very confident about the outlook for the Company. A
further update will be provided when the Company publishes its half-year results
for the six months ended 30 June 2020 on 11 August 2020.

^(1)^( )New Customers – Customers depositing for the first time during the period

^(2)^( )Active Customers – Customers who made at least one real money trade during
the period  

^(3) Unaudited numbers

^(4)^( )Customer Income – Revenue from customer spreads and overnight charges

^(5)^( )Customer Trading Performance – Gains/losses on customers’ trading positions

> **Penny Judd, Chairman of Plus500, commented on David Zruia’s appointment as permanent
> CEO:**
> “David has proven his ability over several years with Plus500 as Chief Operating
> Officer, during which time he has developed a thorough knowledge of the business
> and has consistently exhibited strong leadership skills. He quickly rose to the
> challenge of becoming interim CEO and, consequently, he proved to be the outstanding
> candidate to take on the role permanently, following an extensive internal and
> external search process carried out by the Board. The Board is looking forward
> to working with David in the future and we wish him the very best in leading Plus500
> going forward.”

> **David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented on his appointment
> and on the results:**
> “Having been part of the Plus500 team for almost 10 years, I am honoured to be
> given the opportunity to become CEO of the Company. It has been exciting to lead
> the business on an interim basis over the last few months and I believe that Plus500
> is in an extremely strong position, both operationally and financially, to deliver
> future growth for our shareholders.
> “This position is highlighted by our exceptionally strong performance during the
> first half of 2020. The significant number of New Customers on-boarded is a strong
> signal of the sophistication and accessibility of our proprietary technology platform.
> This performance is also a testament to our people, who have been fully committed
> to ensuring that we have offered our customers a consistent, seamless, high quality
> service in extremely challenging, and unprecedented, circumstances.
> “Given our performance in the first half, we remain very confident about the prospects
> for the Company.”

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