Online financial spreadbetting firm London Capital Group Holdings has stated that it expects its profits before tax to have fallen by around 36 percent year-on-year for the first half of 2009 when it announces its interim results next month.

London Capital made the announcement in a trading update issued last week and revealed that its profits before tax and share-based payments would be approximately £3.75 million compared to £5.9m for the same period last year.

The firm blamed the decline on ‘adverse trading conditions in the first half of 2009’ and revealed that, even though revenues from trading have increased, its profits have been impacted by ‘lower levels of interest income and greater investment in new trading software and white-labels’.

“Our key performance indicators continue to be robust and we are experiencing strong organic growth in new client acquisitions, average daily trade volumes and client funds on deposit,” read the trading update.

“We have also recently acquired the assets of Chaucer Digital including intellectual property and key staff members. Chaucer Digital has been central to the development of our new proprietary trading platform software.

London Capital revealed that its cash generation has continued to be strong and stated that it had no bad debts during the first half of 2009.

“Although London Capital Group's revenues have traditionally been stronger in the second half, predictability of earnings has become more difficult in the current range-bound market conditions,” read the statement.

“All the company's divisions remain profitable and we are pleased to report that we have recently seen signs of improved performance.”


Source: iGamingBusiness.com