Plus500 Share Discussion Threads

[blueliner] 13/11/2023 17:44

My payment via HL worked out at 47.60p executed on Friday .

[aleman] 13/11/2023 16:22

My dividend landed today. It was paid into my bank directly in Sterling, as promised after last time's delays. I've been paid 46.26p per share which suggests an exchange rate of $1.27 has been used by Link Registrars after 20% tax. Did others receive similar?

[scepticalinvestor] 10/11/2023 20:41

Lol sorry 4k gbp

[nickwild] 10/11/2023 20:38

is that 4 million in divis?

[scepticalinvestor] 10/11/2023 17:20

4000k gbp in divis received today. All reinvested in PLUS.Thank you PLUS

[scepticalinvestor] 07/11/2023 08:40

Looks like a new base forming at arnd 1400

[aleman] 26/10/2023 12:30

planelondon - that's useful to know. Thanks for pointing it out.

[planelondon] 26/10/2023 12:26

The $10.4m of Trade Payables due to clients you have identified, are likely to be client money obligations to Eligible Professional Customers (EPC), whose deposits are not placed in segregated client money accounts but instead sit on the company’s balance sheet with customers being general creditors of the company.

[planelondon] 26/10/2023 12:15

Aleman, the reason your interest income “almost appears too high at around 4.8%” is because you are not considering interest earned on US client segregated funds that aren’t reported at all in the company accounts but the company receives the interest on those funds.

The net customer deposits of $272.4m you refer to only relate to customer deposits in respect of CFD customers and not US futures customers. CFD deposits are disclosed within the company accounts but do not belong to the company and sit outside the company’s reported cash balances of $930m (31/12/22) and $875m (30/09/23). Although, the interest earned on these deposits is attributed to the company.

The regulatory, accounting and reporting procedures for segregated customer deposits differ slightly between CFDs and US futures.

Hope this helps explain why interest rate income appears high relative to the cash balances you have identified within the accounts.

[aleman] 26/10/2023 10:02

Customer money seems to be covered in cash and trade payables notes.

Note 19 trade payables:

Customer Deposits $411.5m
Open position assets $139.0m
Open position liabiliities $10.3m
Customer Net Deposits $282.8m
Segregated Client Funds $272.4m
Trade Payables due Clients $10.4m

The $10.4m figure is on the balance sheet as Trade payables to Clients so it looks like all the rest of clients' money is covered by their segregated cash and their open positions.

This is reinforced by Note 16 which shows Own Cash of $930.2m after deducting $272.4m of segregated client funds from $1202.6m of gross cash, about 2/3rds of which is in USD. The Own Cash and Equivalents figure in the note is on the balance sheet as just Cash and Equivalents.

So I'd expect PLUS get all the interest on the $930.2m (latest is above $875m at Q3) and perhaps a margin on customers' $272.4m. The company's interest in Q3 was $14.4m , which seems very healthy - almost too high at around 4.8% annualised of gross cash or 6.2% annualised of Own Cash. That could be down to payments timing but you'd expect accounting to accrue interest rather than just record as it's credited.

[aleman] 26/10/2023 09:49

From FY 2022 results:

In January 2022, the Company’s status as a PTE, as accredited by the ITA under the tax regime in Israel, has been extended for the financial years 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, subject to the Company complying with the conditions of the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments. Consequently, the Company’s corporate tax rate for each of these years will be reduced from 23% to 12% and the withholding tax rate applicable for dividends will be reduced from 25% to 20%.

[riverman77] 25/10/2023 20:52

I don't think client money would be included in the 875m cash figure - this is the company's cash. That said, a fair amount of this would always need to be retained as a capital surplus, so shareholders would never get their hands on all this cash. Even so, still incredibly cheap. Not a fan of EBITDA, but in this case there wouldn't be much in terms of depreciation and no interest costs.

[whitelotus40] 25/10/2023 20:10

Plus was benefitting from a favourable tax rate given their status as "tech" company in Israel. I think they were trying for this to extend. Does anyone know what the latest is around this issue?

[whitelotus40] 25/10/2023 19:58

thank you Thorpematt. My impression is that the $ 875 (715£) is the companies monies from retained earnings/profits . Of which circa 500m is needed to run the business licensing and banking/ brokering requirements etc. (
Clients monies would be held in a different and certainly not be allowed to be touched by PLUS ( and segregated account)..

[thorpematt] 25/10/2023 19:29

Well you have to consider that client money is not really cash so you need to ring fence that....but that aside yes your calcs aren't far off.

Also, as Charlie would say EBITDA really is just BS earnings: -

The I of course would diminsh of you had no cash so you should adjust for that.
The T always needs paying
The D well there's little of that because it isn't that type of operation.
The A is possibly significant because there will be some due to acquistion.

But in the end the post tax profits minus the interest is really the true earning power of the company. And once you work out the EV (with client money ring fenced), then you have a true PER. You will no doubt conclude that this stock is ridiculously cheap!

[whitelotus40] 25/10/2023 18:08

My analysis is as follows;
Cash 875m Mkt Cap 1,372 EV 500m Ebitda circa 300
Meaning its trading at less than 2 times EBITDA ??!!! ( some say 5 in the chat )
Is it best to look at it NET of cash or ?? Hence its ridiculously cheap?

[riverman77] 24/10/2023 21:03

Bought back in today having held this on and off for several years. Not only is this amazingly cheap, with cash almost covering the market cap, but trading has been surprisingly resilient over the last year or so. Despite poor markets, revenues are holding up well. The quality of earnings also seems to be improving with more longer term clients. When volatility picks up earnings could really accelerate, especially if the US or Japanese sides gain traction.

[riskvsreward] 24/10/2023 19:05

Thanks Savaloy. It indicates how cash generative this company is.

[scepticalinvestor] 24/10/2023 19:02

Well my buy was well timed for once. Now up 8%.

[aleman] 24/10/2023 15:53

The Odey purchase was Q2, I believe. The purchase was reported in June. I presume settlement was also June but it's conceivable it might have been later?

[oi_oi_savaloy] 24/10/2023 14:03

From the rns this morning; 'The Group remained debt-free and maintained strong financial position during the period, with cash balances above $875m as of 30 September 2023 (30 June 2023: $849.0m). A strong balance sheet, with no debt, is a key differentiator for Plus500 which enables it to invest in its long-term strategic objectives.'

Near the bottom of the release, just above the tables of KPI's.

[riskvsreward] 24/10/2023 13:50

Do they still have £715 m cash? Have they not spent some to buy back Odey’s 10% shares?

[riverman77] 24/10/2023 12:53

As well as the interest on customer deposits they will also presumably getting interest on their £715m cash balance - that would be around £35m at 5%.

[base7] 24/10/2023 10:04

Solid results & interest received currently relates to around 75p per share-so if all distributed as windfall to shareholders our yield would almost double .Us & Japanese businesses gaining traction & increased volatility since 7/10 should result in a strong final quarter .

[aleman] 24/10/2023 10:01

So the latest cash balance shows a modest rise to around £715m after spending about £24m on buy-backs in Q3. Compare that to a market cap around £1.1bn at £14.