The XTB group has released preliminary results for the first quarter of 2021, showing growth in new customers and over 100,000 active clients for the first time in a single quarter. Along with climbing revenue and profit, the company is proud of its accomplishments.
Record-Breaking Customer Growth
During the first quarter of 2021, the XTB Group saw operating revenues of EUR 40.8 million, an increase of 33.4% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. Net profit amounted to EUR 19.5 million, an increase of 121.3% compared to the previous quarter. The number of new clients increased by 67.2 thousand, an increase of 75.0% compared to the previous quarter, and active clients surpassed 100 thousand for the first time, reaching 103.4 thousand, an increase of 43.0% from the fourth quarter of 2020. Almost 317 thousand people have invested with XTB so far.
Omar Arnaout, president of the board of XTB, stated that “These customer indicators are of great importance in the context of building the long-term development of the company and the implementation of our strategy. The number of new and active clients translates directly into XTB’s revenues and profits, which were also significantly higher than in the previous quarter.”
Growth Drivers
The increase in the customer base is the result of intensified marketing activities, including campaigns launched in 2020 that communicated commission-free investing in shares up to EUR 100,000 in turnover per month. These campaigns featured the new XTB ambassador, Portuguese coach José Mourinho. The Group also put a great emphasis on educational activities by organising a new format of conference addressed to novice investors in several regions. The new series of events, branded XTB Investing Day, was designed to provide basic knowledge related to investing and to familiarise current investors and potential clients with the full range of instruments available at XTB on the individual markets.
X Open Hub
Services providing liquidity and technology to other financial institutions are a constantly growing area of the XTB Group’s operations.
In Q1 2021, the X Open Hub (XOH) recorded a revenue of EUR 2,3 million, while in the fourth quarter of 2020 it was over EUR 1,1 million.
Due to the development of business activities, XTB Group’s employment exceeded 550 people at the end of the first quarter of 2021.The total operating costs amounted to EUR 19 million and were slightly higher than those incurred by the Group in the fourth quarter of 2020, when they amounted to EUR 18,3 million.
New Markets
Regarding the geographic expansion, the Group is finalising the preparatory activities aimed at launching operations in the United Arab Emirates.
In January 2021, XTB MENA Limited was established as a local entity.Currently, a number of activities are underway in order to meet all the conditions of the local DFSA regulator, which will allow it to obtain a license necessary to start operating in the UAE.
Omar Arnaout added:
“We are coming closer to the moment that we have been waiting for – launching operational activity in the United Arab Emirates.
Step by step, we are implementing planned activities – from obtaining the necessary approvals and licenses, through the preparation of our internal infrastructure, products and offer, to the recruitment of the local team – all of which will allow us to start a completely new chapter in the history of XTB’s global expansion.
We will be happy to share all the detailed plans when we start operating in Dubai, which in line with earlier announcements, will take place in the first half of this year. “