Trading 212 UK Doubles 2024 Ad Spending, but Profit Keeps Rising

The UK unit of Trading 212, a retail broker, more than doubled its advertising and marketing expenses in 2024, spending over £39.5 million. In the previous year, the company spent £18 million on the same, meaning there was a year-over-year increase of about 120 per cent.

UK Revenue Surges

The high spending also benefited the company in terms of revenue. According to the latest Companies House filing, Trading 212 UK closed 2024 with £161.7 million in revenue, a yearly increase of 55.3 per cent. Of this, £150 million came from brokerage services, while the rest was interest income.

Trading 212 UK also generated an income of £407,806 from its debit cards, a service it launched last year.

Although the company's total administrative expenses rose by more than 59.3 per cent to £113.3 million, it still managed to push pre-tax profits higher to £52.9 million from £38.6 million. The company ended the year with a net profit of £39.7 million.

Expansion Continues

Trading 212, established in Bulgaria in 2004 as Avus Capital and incorporated in the UK in 2013, primarily focuses on the UK and the European Union. It operates through three entities: one in the UK and two in Cyprus and Bulgaria. The group has yet to release 2024 figures from its non-UK businesses.

The group also incorporated a separate entity in Cyprus and obtained a crypto licence last year. However, its plans for crypto offerings have yet to be revealed. It also expanded in Germany last year by acquiring local broker FXFlat.

The broker made its name offering contracts for differences (CFDs); however, it now focuses on stockbroking services. “While operating both a stockbroking, tax-efficient cash savings and CFD platform, T212's growth strategy remains focused on the stockbroking and cash savings part of the business, and growing the value of client money and client asset balances under administration,” the filing added.

The latest filing further highlighted that the number of Trading 212’s monthly active users in the UK jumped by 92 per cent, and the number of monthly active trades increased by 118 per cent. Furthermore, the total value of client deposits jumped by 272 per cent, while the total value of client money and the total value of client custody assets increased by 350 per cent and 121 per cent, respectively.