Booming retail trading volumes prompted trading platform Plus500 to raise its income and profits forecast ahead of analysts’ expectations for the year today.

In a trading update, the London listed platform said revenues and earnings will come in far ahead of forecasts after “further positive momentum” in the third quarter of this year.

An uptick in new customers had been driven by “significant investment in the company’s marketing technology to drive attractive return-on-investment, which will continue to be made, in order to drive further platform engagement in the future,” Plus500 said.

The firm said its customer base had expanded rapidly in recent years.

The rosy forecasts come despite the retail trading boom tailing off after stock market volatility eased following Covid-19 induced turbulence.

Trading activity among new market participants soared at the height of the pandemic as households hunted down higher yields for their newfound savings and had more time to spare during lockdowns.

“Plus500 made further progress in establishing its position as a global multi-asset fintech group.”

“This progress has been driven by further investment in Plus500’s market-leading proprietary CFD technology platform,” supported purchases of other fintech businesses, it said.