Retail broker Trading 212 published financial results for its UK entity earlier this week and there were a bunch of interesting factoids in the company’s accounts that are worth looking at. Let’s dive in.
1. Trading 212 UK saw £161.7m in revenue, £39.7m in net income
The broker’s UK entity hit £161.7m in revenue last year, up from £104.1m in 2023.
It’s plausible part of that was due to higher market volatility, particularly in the final quarter of the year.
However, it may also just be due to more aggressive marketing. Total advertising spend at Trading 212 more than doubled last year compared to 2023, rising from just shy of £18.1m to £39.5m.
Net income also rose substantially as a result, hitting £39.7m and up from £30.4m in 2023.
2. Trading 212 MAUs rose 92%, number of trades up 118%
Trading 212 also shared some stats around client activity for the year. The results are also very impressive.
Last year Trading 212 saw a 72% increase in funded investment accounts, the term it uses for stockbroking services. That was across both regular stockbroking accounts and tax-efficient ISAs.
The other key stats here were on monthly active users (MAUs) and the number of active trades.
MAUs rose 92% last year compared to 2023.
The number of active trades rose by 118%. Trading 212 does not define what ‘active trades’ actually means, so it’s hard to know if this is just a reference to CFD trading or if it includes both CFDs and stock trading.
Nonetheless, it’s a sign of how much customer growth the company has achieved.
3. Trading 212 AUM is now £6.6bn
The main goal for Trading 212 has been to build up its stockbroking business and client assets rose last year to £6.6bn.
This was a 121% increase on 2023, when the broker finished the year with just shy of £3.0bn of AUM.
The broker said client deposits rose almost three-fold in 2024 compared to 2023, with the value of cash holdings also rising by 350%.
4. Trading 212 Card fees generated £407,806 last year
One of the other striking features of the report was the fact that payments at the firm are generating a small amount of income.
Trading 212 launched its payments card last year and the company said clients generated £407,806 in fees from using it.
Although it’s early days and the card is unlikely to be a major part of overall revenues, it’s at least a sign that it can generate some money.
5. Trading 212’s owners got paid £13.6m in dividends
One of the impressive features of Trading 212’s growth is the fact it has been entirely self-funded.
The company is still owned by its founders Ivan Ashminov and Borislav Nedialkov, who have not taken outside investment for the company.
The result is that they continue to benefit from its financial success. Last year dividends totalled £13.6m. The company has also approved dividends of just over £4.1m so far this year.
6. Trading 212 is now the 2nd biggest CFD broker in the UK
The result of this growth is that Trading 212 is, unless there is an offshore firm making more, the second-largest CFD broker in the UK.
In its last financial year IG Group made £255.0m from its UK operations, putting it ahead of Trading 212. However, it seems unlikely any other firm makes the same level of revenues that the Bulgarian firm does.
For example, eToro made less than £100m from the UK market in its most recent results. Plus500’s latest results show it made approximately £45.6m from its UK operations.
Other players, like Pepperstone, axi, and CMC Markets, have a sizeable presence in the UK but are not generating as much revenue as those companies.
The success of Trading 212 is a sign that the model pioneered by Robinhood basically works. You sell a free stockbroking product and a certain proportion of those people will convert into higher revenue generating products.
The other facet of the company’s success is its app and the product design. Trading 212’s app may feel like one of those old people phones, with massive buttons and a very bare bones interface, but it’s working.
Note that the idea the company is a stockbroker simply doesn’t hold water. Trading 212 says itself that it makes money from stockbroking on FX fees, stock lending, and margin on client cash. These income sources are nowhere near enough to generate the sort of revenue the firm is making.
