Gildencrest Capital Limited, the Canary Wharf-based matched principal broker that spent 2024 dismantling its forex business in favor of equities, swung to a £2.84 million net profit in 2025 from a near-breakeven £20,458 a year earlier, as equity trading volumes surged more than fivefold and revenue more than tripled, according to the company's annual report filed with Companies House.
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Turnover at the FCA-regulated firm climbed to £12.54 million from £3.65 million, with pre-tax profit reaching £3.81 million against a £5,375 loss in 2024.
The Equity Bet Pays Off
The 2025 numbers vindicate, in hard cash terms, the strategic shift that reshaped Gildencrest's revenue mix a year earlier, when equities first became 90% of the top line but profits without forex collapsed 95%. This time the equity-heavy mix has delivered.
Other capital markets volumes, which the company uses to describe its equity and fixed-income brokerage, jumped more than 500% to £4.80 billion. The associated equity income rose 283% to £7.85 million.
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Forex business volume, in contrast, fell 20% year-on-year to £7.02 billion, with CFD-related income shrinking to just £312,000.
The firm focuses on professional and institutional clients in equities but said offering equity trading to retail customers remains under consideration. Gildencrest also continued investment in its proprietary trading system, GildenTrade, which it has been rolling out to clients.
Gildencrest Capital Limited Key Figures
Metric | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
Turnover | £12.54m | £3.65m | +243% |
Operating profit/(loss) | £3.81m | (£5,355) | n/m |
Profit after tax | £2.84m | £20,458 | n/m |
Forex trading volume | £7.02bn | n/d | -20% |
Equity trading volume | £4.80bn | n/d | +500%+ |
Equity income | £7.85m | n/d | +283% |
Source: Companies House filing.
UK Broker Results Diverge as Equity Story Outpaces CFD Peers
Gildencrest's pivot puts it on the opposite end of the UK broker spectrum from CFD-focused competitors that have struggled with margin pressure.
Equiti Capital UK posted a 52% drop in annual profit as institutional CFD trading costs outran revenue growth, while Trive Financial Services UK saw its net profit halve before deciding to wind down its UK operations.
Where Gildencrest matches the market is on the equity side. London is now packed with platforms pushing equity products to compete for retail and professional share flow, from established names to insurgents.
Freetrade, now part of IG Group, posted a £24.4 million loss on £31 million of revenue as it scaled its commission-free equity platform, while ATC Brokers' UK arm doubled profits as revenue jumped 125% on the back of higher commission income.
Gildencrest's institutional focus and lean cost base, 9 staff against 9 a year earlier, helped it convert the equity volume jump into margin. Administrative expenses doubled to £4.16 million, but gross profit grew nearly four times to £7.96 million, leaving operating margin at roughly 30%.
Latvia Push as Polish Subsidiary Winds Down
The directors said Gildencrest converted its Polish subsidiary, Tera Poland, into a branch during the year, with the entity itself dissolved in 2025. The branch remains non-operational following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union.
A previously considered plan to launch a wholly owned Polish subsidiary has been abandoned. Instead, the firm has applied for regulatory authorization in Latvia and intends to open a branch office in Riga during 2026, the report said. The DIFC-licensed Dubai branch continued operating.
The strategic report flagged the Iran war as a near-term risk, with management saying it expects "general business conditions to be uncertain in the first half of 2026, because of global risk aversion, and political tensions and economic uncertainty which are likely to remain as headwinds."
The Middle East remains a target market, the directors said, but the firm will "keep our powder dry" until there is clarity on the conflict.
Director Pay Tracks the Profit Swing
Total directors' emoluments jumped to £1.2 million from £290,000, with the highest paid director taking home £750,000 against £160,000 in 2024.
Staff costs more than doubled to £2.16 million from £900,000, despite headcount staying flat at 9. Variable remuneration across the material risk-taker pool reached £813,654 against fixed pay of £595,283.
The company also paid out its first dividend in years, returning £165,288 to its sole shareholder, Cynelic Investments Limited, a British Virgin Islands holding company formerly known as Tera Financial Holdings.
