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Plus500 Ltd shares fell early Monday in London, despite reporting a ‘record’ first-half performance and promising to announce new shareholder returns with the company’s interim results, as business growth slowed in the second quarter. Plus500 shares were down 12% to 4,332.40 pence early on Monday. The wider FTSE 250 index was down just 0.2%. Plus500 remains up 31% over the past 12 months. In a trading update, the Haifa, Israel-based trading platform operator said it has established itself at the centre of the booming US prediction markets industry, following the launch of its consumer offering and sports event-based contracts, while expanding its over-the-counter platform into Canada and enhancing its Japanese offering. This drove revenue up 12% to $462.9 million in the first half of 2026 from $415.1 million a year before. Revenue rose less strongly in the second quarter alone, however, increasing by 5.5% to $220.8 million from $209.3 million a year before. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 1.3% to $187.5 million in the first half from $185.1 million a year before. It was up just 0.5% in the second quarter, however, to $91.8 million from $91.3 million. The rise in earnings was driven by record customer income, Plus500 said, and continued growth across its OTC and non-OTC businesses. New customers numbered 65,723 in the first half of the year, up 17% from 56,165 a year before, but in the second quarter alone, they fell 12% to 25,856 from 29,268. Plus500 had 197,294 active customers in the first half, up 10% from 179,931 a year before, though in the second quarter alone this was 131,214, down 1.0% from 132,602 a year before. Rahim Karim, an analyst at Cavendish, said Plus500’s second quarter was ‘slightly weaker than our expectations’ due to higher-than-expected customer churn. Despite the slower revenue and earnings growth in the second quarter, compared to the first, Plus500 said it enters the second half with ‘strong operational momentum’ and continues to expect full-year revenue and Ebitda in line with market expectations, following multiple consensus upgrades this year. Plus500 cited Bloomberg in placing market expectations at $368.1 million in Ebitda on $811.5 million in revenue. This would be up from $348.1 million in Ebitda on $792.4 million in revenue in 2025. ‘Whilst we don’t believe it appropriate to read too much in a single quarter’s performance and acknowledge the significant strategic performance and delivery during the period, we believe that the lack of upgrades given the macro environment and share price performance YTD might be perceived as slightly disappointing,’ Cavendish’s Karim said. Plus500 will report half-year results on August 10, when it also said it plans to announce new shareholder returns through dividends and share buyback programmes. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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