IG added customers but expects quarterly revenue 14% lower. eToro's August figures show more trades at smaller sizes. What the filings say, and what they do not yet show.
Three listed trading firms have reported since mid-September. IG and Plus500 issued Q3 statements on 2 October 2026; eToro published its August business metrics on 14 September. Together they show more people trading. They also show that more trading does not always mean more revenue for the broker.
All figures below are the firms’ own. IG’s are expectations, stated as approximate; eToro’s are preliminary and unaudited.
IG expects Q3 2026 total revenue of approximately £240 million, against £280.1 million in Q3 2025, a fall of about 14%. Net trading revenue is expected at approximately £210 million (Q3 2025: £249.5 million).
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Q3 2025 | £280.1m |
| Q3 2026 (expected, approximate) | £240.0m |
Source: IG Group, Q3 trading update, 2 October 2026
The customer numbers moved the other way. Organic first trades were up over 25% year on year, and organic active customers up around 17%.
IG puts the difference down to one measure: OTC revenue retention. Its 2025 annual results describe the work behind it as action “to improve the conversion of OTC derivatives customer income into net trading revenue,” including measures “to better align spreads with underlying market liquidity” and new algorithms for “more passive hedging at lower cost.” In 2025, IG said, these measures contributed to “an improvement in OTC customer income retention of more than four percentage points, to over 83%,” with “some increased quarter-to-quarter variability” to be expected.
Q3 2026 was a weaker quarter. Retention was approximately 70%, “below the approximately 80% averaged since the introduction of market-making optimisation measures in H2 2025.” IG’s board says it remains confident the measures “will structurally increase OTC revenue retention over the medium to long term, albeit with greater expected short-term variability.” The effect shows in IG’s own split of the OTC business: OTC customer income rose by approximately 8%, while OTC net trading revenue, at approximately £155 million, was around 18% lower. In the words of chief executive Breon Corcoran, “Lower Q3 revenue reflected reduced OTC revenue retention in less supportive market conditions.”
The quarter changed the year’s outlook:
IG says it remains confident of meeting its medium-term guidance, and will give more detail with its strategy update on 22 October 2026.
Plus500’s 2 October statement was short. The group said it “continues to trade in-line with current market expectations for FY 2026 and maintains a strong cash position,” building on what it called record results in H1 2026, and that its “proprietary risk management framework has been through various market cycles over the years.” It gave no Q3 figures, and said its full Q3 trading update will follow later in October.
eToro reports selected metrics every month. Its August 2026 figures, against August 2025:
| August | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funded accounts | 3.69m | 4.36m | +18% |
| Trades, capital markets | 39.4m | 51.7m | +31% |
| Invested amount per trade, capital markets | $278 | $197 | -29% |
| Trades, cryptoassets | 5.5m | 5.3m | -4% |
| Invested amount per trade, cryptoassets | $325 | $97 | -70% |
| Assets under administration | $19.7bn | $20.2bn | +3% |
| Interest earning assets | $7.6bn | $7.1bn | -7% |
| Total money transfers | $0.9bn | $1.2bn | +33% |
Two caveats come from eToro itself. The August 2026 funded accounts “includes 110,000 from Zengo and Bit2C acquisitions,” so part of the growth was bought rather than organic. And the data “has not been audited or reviewed” and “should not be extrapolated for future periods.”
What the table shows is activity rising while the average trade shrank: almost a third more capital markets trades, each with an invested amount 29% lower on average, and crypto trades down slightly with the average invested amount down 70%. eToro’s monthly release does not report revenue, so these figures alone do not say what the shift did to its income.
On the firms’ own numbers, the third quarter brought more people to trading platforms: IG’s organic first trades grew by over 25% and its organic active customers by around 17%, and eToro’s funded accounts by 18%, part of it through acquisitions.
What happened to revenue depends on more than activity. At IG, customer income rose while net trading revenue fell, because the firm kept a smaller share of it. At eToro, more trades came at a smaller average size. Plus500 has not yet published its numbers.
The next figures are due within weeks: IG’s further Q3 detail and strategy update on 22 October, Plus500’s full Q3 trading update later this month, and eToro’s next set of monthly metrics.
The firms’ original announcements are in our Bulletin: IG, Plus500 and eToro.
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