Plus500 (LON: PLUS) has published its preliminary unaudited results for 2022, announcing a $100 million distribution to inventors in final and special share buybacks and dividends.

$100 Million Distribution of Plus500

On Tuesday, the London-listed Israeli broker announced a new final share buyback program of $42.4 million and a special buyback program of $27.6 million. It will also distribute a final yearly dividend of $20 million to the shareholders at $0.2156 per share and a special dividend of $10 million at $0.1078 per share, to be distributed in July.

The distribution came as the retail broker ended 2022 with an EBITDA of $453.8 million, which is 17 percent higher than the previous fiscal. On top of that, its revenue jumped by 16 percent to $832.6 million. Plus500 revealed both of these figures in an earlier trading update.

"Plus500 continues to outperform, delivering an excellent set of results in 2022, well ahead of market expectations at the beginning of the year. Our performance was again driven by Plus500's unique proprietary technology stack proposition, which underpins our ongoing ability to attract and retain higher value customers over the long term," said David Zruia, Plus500's CEO.

The latest buyback and dividend announcement by Plus500 brought the company's total return to shareholders in 2022 to $270.2 million, representing 73 percent of the net profits for the fiscal period. It has already completed a buyback program of $60.2 million and a special buyback program of $50 million. In addition, it distributed $60 million in interim dividends last November.

Solid Cash Flow

Plus500 is one of the few publicly listed retail brokerages. The London-listed share price of the company jumped by more than 1.2 percent on Tuesday morning, as of press time, following the announcement of the buyback and dividends.

Plus500 is a debt-free company, and the latest results "confirm the cash-generative nature of its business model… [driven by] customer acquisition and retention," analysts at Liberum highlighted.

Indeed, the company benefited from its "ability to attract and retain higher value, long-term customers," as 87 percent of its over-the-counter (OTC) revenue was driven by customers trading for over a year. Additionally, total deposits jumped to $2.3 billion from the previous fiscal's $2.1 billion, with the average deposit per active customer growing to a record $8,000 from $5,000.

"Not only do these cash flows support high shareholder distributions (cumulative $1.7bn since IPO), they also fund the investment in the group's growth and diversification strategy, as it builds out a multi-asset fintech platform," Liberum analysts added with a recommendation of buying Plus500 stocks.

Growing Global Footprint

Meanwhile, the Israeli broker is aggressively focusing on increasing its global footprint. Recently, it obtained a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) after entering the US and Japan with the acquisition of locally regulated platforms. Furthermore, it gained regulatory licenses in Estonia and Seychelles, holding a dozen regulatory approvals globally.

"We are in an extremely exciting strategic and commercial position, with multiple potential growth opportunities available, particularly in the US futures market, which will continue to drive our growth as a global multi-asset fintech group," Plus500's CEO, Zruia, added. "With further organic investments and targeted acquisitions, we are confident that Plus500 remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable growth over the medium to long-term."