Alpha FX Group plc (LON:AFX), a provider of FX risk management and alternative banking solutions, today issued a trading update for the financial year ending 31 December 2021.
Following Alpha FX’s interim results announcement on 1 September 2021, the Board says that trading has remained strong. Growth continues to be derived from the Group’s core Corporate & Institutional FX Risk Management divisions in London, alongside record half year performances, already achieved in H2 to date, from all three of the Group’s newer divisions: Alpha Netherlands, Alpha Canada and Alpha Platform Solutions.
In its interim report, Alpha FX forecast that as part of its strategy to invest for future growth, costs would accelerate in the second half of the year as the restrictions posed by COVID eased further. This has indeed been the case, in particular from increased hiring in both Front and Back Office across all divisions.
Despite this increase in costs, as a result of the continued strong trading since 1 September 2021, the Board now expects that revenue and earnings for the year will be ahead of most recent expectations.
Let’s recall that the Group reported revenue of £34.2 million for the first six months of 2021, up 90% from the result reported for the equivalent period a year earlier. The increase was driven by a broad recovery in client activity post lockdown and strong growth across all divisions.
Reported H1 2021 profit before tax jumped 225% to £15.3 million (H1 2020: £4.7m). Underlying basic earnings per share for the first half of 2021 amounted to 27.9p, with basic earnings per share of 27.6p (H1 2020: 8.9p).