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WorldSpreads seeks to grow via AIM

Article Date:  Aug 01 2007 David Russell

WorldSpreads Group, a Dublin-based supplier of spread betting products, has launched on AIM. The oversubscribed placing of 12.3 million shares at 47p raised the group £5.8 million.

The company was founded in Ireland in 2000 focusing on sports, but its UK operations, launched in 2005, have a greater emphasis on financial spread betting. In January this year the group secured FSA approval to extend its range of products into foreign exchange and derivatives.

The majority of WorldSpreads’ clients are based in the UK and Ireland, though there are plans to expand internationally with partnerships currently in Spain, Hungary and South Africa. All clients are pre-approved before they are allowed to bet.

The average number of bets placed with WorldSpreads per month has grown from 6,000 in the first quarter of 2005 to 55,000 in the last quarter of 2007, reflecting CEO Conor Foley’s ambition for the Group to become a ‘substantial spread betting business’.

In the year to March 2007 the company generated revenues of €6.6 million (£4.4 million) and reported an operating profit of €530,000.

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