IG Group Lifts 2026 Revenue Guidance After Q1 Organic Sales Climb 19% to £331 Million

IG Group raised its full-year revenue and medium-term outlook today (Tuesday) after the FTSE 100 broker (LSE: IGG) reported first-quarter organic total revenue of £331.2 million, a 19% rise on the same period last year, driven by stronger OTC derivatives, an expanded crypto offering and rapid growth at recently acquired Freetrade.

Net trading revenue on a continuing organic basis came in at £306.5 million, up 25% year-on-year and 17% on the previous quarter, the company said in its trading update ahead of the annual general meeting.

Reported total revenue, which includes the contribution from Freetrade and the Australian crypto exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term Independent Reserve, rose 21% to £339.9 million.

IG Group’s Guidance Upgrade Tracks Earlier Pre-Close Signal

The board now expects organic total revenue to grow between 10% and 15% in 2026 on a 2025 base of around £1.1 billion, well above the high single-digit range it guided to in March.

EBITDA margins are still seen in the mid-40s percentage range, while net interest income guidance was nudged higher to £110-120 million from around £110 million previously.

The upgrade follows a pre-close update issued in March, when management flagged Q1 calendar revenue of about £300 million and signalled growth at the top end of the prior guided range. Tuesday's print landed materially above that early read.

CEO Breon Corcoran said the company was "upgrading our guidance for 2026 and medium-term outlook" on the back of what he called "disciplined execution Execution Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Execution is the process during which a client submits an order to the brokerage, which consequently executes it resulting in an open position in a given asset. The execution of the order occurs only when it is filled. There is typically a time delay between the placement of the order and the execution which is called latency.In the retail FX space, reliable brokers always strive to deliver best execution to their clients in order to maintain a solid business relationship with them. This is a co Read this Term of our strategy" and what the firm described as favourable trading conditions.

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Beyond 2026, the board now expects to compound organic revenue at a rate of at least 10% per year on the 2025 base.

Stock Trading and Crypto Take a Bigger Slice

OTC derivatives, still IG's largest profit engine, generated £250.6 million in net trading revenue, up 26% year-on-year, as elevated commodity volatility pushed existing customers to trade more. Exchange-traded derivatives, dominated by US unit tastytrade, rose 7% to £40.7 million, with US dollar revenue up 14%.

The bigger swing came from non-CFD lines. Organic stock trading and investments revenue jumped 38% to £15.0 million, while Freetrade contributed an additional £4.6 million. AuA on IG's organic stock platforms hit £8.5 billion at quarter end and climbed to £9.3 billion by 30 April, with Freetrade adding another £4.0 billion by the same date.

Spot crypto revenue printed at £2.4 million, against just £0.1 million a year earlier, after IG closed its acquisition of Australian exchange Independent Reserve in January and switched on spot crypto trading for Australian clients in March.

The exchange contributed £2.1 million over two months of consolidation, which the company said reflected softer crypto market conditions.

Competitors Also Riding the Volatility Wave

IG's upgrade lands in a quarter when most listed retail brokers are raising their numbers. Plus500 posted Q1 revenue of $242.1 million, up 18%, and lifted its own 2026 guidance above analyst consensus. The Israeli-British firm said customer income, a leading indicator, hit a five-year high.

Warsaw-listed XTB went further, reporting an 88.5% jump in Q1 revenue to PLN 1.09 billion and a net profit of PLN 535 million as it added 370,000 new clients in three months.

CMC Markets, which runs on a March fiscal year, reported H1 2026 net operating income of £186.2 million and pointed to a Westpac white-label deal expected to grow its Australian customer base by 40%.

IG's £20.7 billion AuA figure at the end of April puts it ahead of most pure-play CFD rivals on platform balances, though the comparison is muddied by Freetrade's commission-free model.

Strategic Review and Buyback Run in Parallel

Corcoran said active customer growth had accelerated beyond 12% year-on-year in the first seven weeks of Q2, with OTC customer income retention in a mid-80s percentage range. The group also launched an institutional white-label proposition in May and onboarded its first partner.

The board's strategic review, unveiled alongside the full-year results in March, is still running. It is examining acquisitions, IG's domicile and listing venues, and possible combinations of parts of the group with other industry players. Conclusions are expected at a strategy update in autumn 2026.

The £125 million buyback announced in March is also progressing, with 987,160 shares repurchased for £14.9 million by 15 May. The first annual report under the company's new calendar year-end detailed £320.8 million returned to shareholders during 2025.

Interim results for the six months to 30 June 2026 are due on 31 July.