The revenue of ActivTrades, a London-headquartered forex and CFDs broker, nosedived to £27.5 million in 2023 from the previous year’s £50.2 million, a decline of 45.2 percent. Further, the broker turned a net loss of £5.8 million, down from a profit of almost £16.3 million.

A Struggling Year for ActivTrades

The latest Companies House filing by ActivTrades PLC shows that the company’s sales cost did not follow the revenue decline, staying at £2.8 million, compared to £2.9 million in 2022. However, administrative expenses last year increased by 17 percent to £34.4 million.

Interestingly, the broker earned a windfall of £2.7 million as interest income, 350 percent higher than the previous year.

“The notable rise in our expenses this year primarily stems from enhanced marketing efforts,” the filing stated. “We’ve been actively exploring new markets and expanding our customer base, which necessitated a higher investment in marketing activities.”

Improvement in Customer Metrics

The strategy might have paid off, as the broker managed to identify 206,690 new potential clients in 2023, of which 14,623 became customers with funded accounts, a yearly rise of 80 percent. At the year's end, the broker had 27,943 active clients, an increase of 37 percent.

Further, the monthly trading volume on the brokerage platform averaged $56.4 billion, a 9 percent increase.

“The Group’s strategy is to retain its customer base through providing excellent customer service, as well as reaching out to more customers via direct marketing campaigns and promotions. The Group will continue to innovate and to provide new financial products for its customers,” the filing added.

“As the customer base has become more spread out across the world and demand has continued to grow, the Group has established entities outside of its headquarters in London.”

Indeed, apart from the UK operations, the ActivTrades brand is operated by entities in the Bahamas, Luxembourg, and Portugal. Another entity in Brazil is also readying to start trading. All these entities operate as subsidiaries of the UK entity, and their combined performances are reported in the consolidated financial statement.

“Historically, the Group has had a high market share in occidental European countries,” the filing continued. “In the last few years, the Group has invested more heavily in acquiring clients from newer markets, particularly in Latin America, to develop the opportunities in these markets to their full potential.”