IG Group H1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Strong first-half performance: Revenue rose 18% to £643 million, while organic active customers increased 13% and first trades jumped 74%. Adjusted EPS climbed 21% to £0.689, although the EBITDA margin declined to 43.9% amid higher investment and strategic-review costs.
• Underdog acquisition will significantly expand U.S. exposure: The proposed deal would more than tenfold IG’s U.S. active customers and raise the region’s share of group revenue to about 40%. Management expects the transaction to be EPS-neutral in year one and double-digit accretive by year three, but acknowledged regulatory risks around prediction markets.
• Capital and corporate changes planned: IG will pause share buybacks while pursuing the acquisition, maintain its progressive dividend, and seek approval to move its holding company to Jersey while retaining its London listing and U.K. tax residency.

IG Group LON: IGG reported higher first-half revenue, customer activity and adjusted earnings, while outlining plans to acquire U.S. prediction-markets and daily fantasy sports operator Underdog and to move its holding company to Jersey.

Chief Executive Officer Breon Corcoran said the first half showed “broad-based growth and clear evidence” that the strategy introduced in July 2024 was working. Organic active customers rose 13%, while organic first trades, which the company uses as an indicator of future growth, increased 74%. Active-customer growth accelerated to 15% in the second quarter, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of sequential growth.

Total revenue rose 18% to £643 million, or 17% on an organic continuing-operations basis. Net trading revenue increased 21% to £589 million, supported by a larger active customer base and higher revenue per customer. The company said every product line and geographic division recorded organic revenue growth.

Profitability and customer assets

Chief Financial Officer Clifford Abrahams said adjusted earnings per share rose 21% to £0.689, aided by share buybacks. EBITDA increased 4% to £282 million, or 7% on an organic continuing-operations basis.

The EBITDA margin was 43.9%, down from 49.6% in the first half of 2025. Abrahams attributed the decline to consolidation effects, costs related to the strategic review and continued investment in growth. The company maintained its guidance for mid-40s EBITDA margins.

Operating costs before depreciation and amortization rose 30% on a reported basis and about 25% organically. Marketing expenditure climbed 51% to £75 million. IG said the spending generated a 107% increase in first trades, with customer-acquisition payback periods below six months and lifetime value at around four times acquisition costs.

Abrahams said organic fixed cost to serve per funded account declined 15% during the half, reflecting digital servicing and automation efforts. Organic headcount fell 10% while revenue grew 17%, he added.

Assets under administration on the IG platform reached £21.5 billion, up 34%, driven by net inflows into stock trading and investment offerings, including Freetrade. The company said first-half net flows on its U.K. direct-to-consumer platform were equivalent to roughly half of opening assets under administration and represented an estimated 8% of U.K. market net inflows.

By region, organic net trading revenue increased 22% in the U.K. and Ireland, 27% in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, 18% in the U.S., and 10% in Europe.

Product expansion and operating changes

Corcoran said IG introduced nearly as many products and features in the first half as it had during all of 2025. Product additions included a wider U.K. investment offering, including global stocks, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, fixed income products, tax wrappers and fractional shares.

Spot cryptocurrency trading is now available through IG’s Financial Conduct Authority-licensed platform, offering more than 150 coins alongside perpetual futures, swaps, transfers and charting tools. The company also launched spot crypto trading in France and completed its acquisition of Independent Reserve in Asia-Pacific.

In the U.S., tastytrade launched prediction markets. Corcoran said the June removal of the pattern day trading rule had also contributed to an increase in options activity among customers previously constrained by the rule.

IG plans to launch a unified trading, investment and crypto proposition in the U.K. early in the second half. The company also simplified its structure from five divisions to three: IG Consumer, IG Securities and IG North America. The revised model includes embedded commercial, product and compliance teams within each division.

Underdog deal reshapes U.S. presence

The company said its proposed acquisition of Underdog would double IG’s U.S. revenue and increase its U.S. active customers by more than tenfold. On a pro forma 2025 basis, the U.S. would account for about 40% of group revenue, compared with about 22% for IG on a standalone basis.

Corcoran described Underdog as a leading U.S. prediction-markets operator that also offers daily fantasy sports. The business has nearly 1 million monthly active users and an integrated licensing structure across brokerage, exchange, clearing and market-making operations. Underdog reported net revenue of $466 million for the 12 months through June 2026, up 21%, while monthly active users rose 39%.

IG said more than 60% of Underdog customers are under 30 and over 80% are below 40. On a pro forma basis, the acquisition would reduce IG’s average customer age to 34 from around 42.

Management acknowledged regulatory uncertainty surrounding prediction markets, including the debate over federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulation versus state-level oversight. Corcoran said the company was “clear-eyed” about those risks, but argued that Underdog’s brand, product capabilities and customer base provided strategic value irrespective of the eventual regulatory outcome.

The transaction is expected to be broadly neutral to adjusted EPS in its first year and double-digit accretive by year three. IG expects return on invested capital to exceed its cost of capital by the third year. The company said Underdog would remain commercially standalone, while its consideration structure includes an earn-out and management incentive plan tied to future performance.

Capital allocation and Jersey redomicile

IG reaffirmed its standalone objective of at least 10% annual organic total-revenue growth beyond 2026. It said faster growth at Underdog is expected to lift combined-group growth above that level.

The company intends to maintain its progressive dividend policy and proposed an interim dividend of £0.1446 per share. However, it plans to pause its current share buyback program while pursuing the Underdog acquisition, with the potential to consider restarting buybacks in 2027 depending on its share price and other capital requirements.

IG also plans to establish a new Jersey-incorporated holding company, while retaining its London listing, FTSE U.K. index eligibility and U.K. tax residency. The proposed redomicile, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, is targeted for completion in the fourth quarter. An extraordinary general meeting is scheduled for Sept. 3.

The company said it will provide a refreshed strategy, guidance and capital-allocation framework at an investor update on Oct. 22.

About IG Group (LON:IGG)

IG Group Holdings plc ("IG") is a FTSE 100 financial technology company operating at the intersection of retail trading, technology and capital markets. Through its trusted brands - IG, tastytrade, Freetrade and Independent Reserve - the Group serves over 1.3 million customers worldwide, providing leveraged trading, stock trading and investments, and cryptocurrency trading via its proprietary platforms. For more information, visit www.iggroup.com.

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