London-listed CFD provider iFOREX swung to a first-half net loss of $2.5 million, it said today (Thursday), after a $1.2 million profit a year earlier. It plans to cut operating costs by about $0.5 million a month from October.

Revenue fell 2% to $26.9 million in the six months to June 30. The company attributed the loss to a stronger Israeli shekel, costs tied to its February listing and a charge on money owed to clients, which it flagged on September 17 when it cut its first-half EBITDA estimate to $1.4 million.

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Net cash stood at $11.8 million at June 30, a figure lifted by the listing proceeds. By September 16 it had fallen to about $6.3 million, of which around $4 million is held to meet regulatory requirements, the company said.

More Clients, Less Revenue per User

Active clients rose 8% year over year to 21,784, and iFOREX onboarded 8,161 new clients, up 19%. Average revenue per user fell 9%, according to the company, and total trading volume dropped about 14% to $201.5 billion.

Chief Executive Itai Sadeh said turning client growth into revenue “depends largely on market conditions, as clients trade less when markets are subdued.”

Measured against the second half of 2025, revenue rose 25% from $21.5 million, and all three client measures improved, the company said.

Seven Months as a Listed Company

iFOREX joined the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on February 25 at 195 pence a share, raising $11.83 million after an eight-month delay to the offering.

Three weeks later the shares had barely traded, with founder Eyal Carmon holding 58.91% under a 12-month lock-up. The company has since applied for a Category 5 license in the United Arab Emirates.

The company booked $2.4 million of IPO-related and other one-off expenses in the half. The shekel, at its strongest against the dollar since 1993, added about $1.8 million to reported costs, because a large part of those costs is paid in Israeli currency, the company said.

On a constant-currency basis, adjusted EBITDA would have been $3.2 million, the company said. Administrative expenses rose 25% to $7.2 million, which also included the $1.0 million client liability charge that it said has largely reversed since June.

Where the Cash Went

Operating activities used $2.1 million in the half, against an inflow of $4.0 million a year earlier. That included a $3.5 million rise in receivables, mainly balances held with liquidity providers and payment service providers.

The listing brought in $10.45 million net of expenses, and a $1.2 million final dividend for 2025 was paid on July 24. Net cash had fallen to about $10 million by August 17, when iFOREX cut its full-year outlook after July trading income fell 77%. It did not explain the September decline.

The new efficiency program targets about $0.5 million a month. Selling, marketing and administrative expenses averaged about $5 million a month in the first half, by FinanceMagnates.com’s calculation, so the cuts equal roughly 10% of that run rate.

Selling and marketing alone rose 6% to $22.6 million, or 84% of revenue compared with 77% a year earlier, even as the average cost of winning a client fell 23% to $533.

Plus500, which also cited the stronger shekel among its cost pressures, reported first-half revenue up 12% to $462.9 million in August.

The board left its full-year outlook where it stood on September 17, with adjusted EBITDA guidance of $0.5 million to $2.5 million. Sadeh said trading since the August update had been encouraging, and iFOREX did not declare an interim dividend.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.BrokersRead More

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