REVENUES UP BUT MARGIN DOWN AT SPREADBETTING GROUP

8 June 2007

IG Group Holdings report higher market volatility

Britain's biggest spreadbetting company, the GBP 1.06 billion IG Group Holdings plc expects to meet forecasts with a 35 percent rise in annual revenues, but deliver a slightly lower margin on core earnings, a statement revealed this week.

"Recent months have benefited from higher market volatility and accelerated client recruitment across the group's financial businesses," the statement announced, adding that IG's sports division has continued to make good progress throughout the year.

Finance Director Steve Clutton said for the past three months IG had been opening new accounts at the best rate in over a year. Client recruitment "which is a key lead indicator (has been) up at levels about 1 000 new financial spread-betting accounts per month," he said.

The new IG customers tend to be "middle England, doctors and teachers and mostly male," Clutton said, adding City-based clients had been largely "complianced out".

Clutton said he expected to report revenues of around GBP120 million ($238 million) for the year ended May 31, around ten percent higher than analysts' forecast for revenue. IG's margin on EBITDA earnings were higher in the second half of the year than in the first, but would be down over the full year compared with 2005/06 because of investment in staff and information technology, Clutton said.

IG has outperformed the general financials sector by 17 percent over the past 12 months.

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