- Online broker SelfWealth (SWF) has released a stellar trading update for the first few weeks of 2021 alongside its latest half-yearly financial report
- The company saw a surge in activity as retail investors flocked to buy U.S. stocks amid the GameStop trading frenzy in January
- SelfWealth saw an increase in average daily registrations from 240 per day in the December quarter of 2020 to 605 per day in January and 855 per day in February
- At the peak of the GameStop chaos on January 29, SelfWealth had 2211 registrations in a single day
- The success of 2021 so far comes on the back of improved revenue in the half-yearly period to the end of December 2020
- While SelfWealth still posted a net loss of $433,000 for the six-month period, this is an improvement of 70.2 per cent on the previous corresponding period
- Shares in SelfWealth are trading 4 per cent lower this morning at 72 cents per share
Online broker SelfWealth (SWF) has released a stellar trading update for the first few weeks of 2021 alongside its latest half-yearly financial report.
It seems SelfWeath was a beneficiary of the Gamestop trading frenzy from late-January as retail investors flocked to buy the U.S. stock.
Given the platform issues and trading restrictions put in place by many online brokers amid the chaos, SelfWeath became a popular choice for Australian investors wanting a hand in the U.S. market.
A 2021 trading boom
The company said today that average daily registrations jumped from roughly 240 per day over the December quarter to 605 per day in January and 855 per day in February.
At the peak of the GameStop pandemonium on January 29, SelfWealth had 2211 registrations in a single day.
All up, 23 per cent of all active SelfWealth traders have added U.S. trading functionality to their existing ASX portfolios, and U.S. trades are making up almost 10 per cent of total daily trade numbers.
SelfWealth said it currently has around 78,600 active traders, which is an increase of 11,270 since the start of 2021. This means the March 2021 quarter has already surpassed total new active traders compared to the December quarter, which recorded 9578 new traders.
SelfWealth’s record is 13,642 new traders in a single quarter, which occurred over the June quarter at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Importantly, the company said active traders who have added U.S. functionality to their accounts are still only considered a single trader even though their portfolio provides multiple streams of revenue for SelfWealth through Australian and U.S. equities.
SelfWealth had $472 million in total client cash as of February 17, 2021, compared to the $435 million held at the end of December.
Managing Director Rob Edgley said the company’s growth has stemmed from its ability to provide simple access to the market at a reasonable price.
“The decision to focus our resources during 2020 on the development and launch of our U.S. trading capability has proven to be the correct move,” he said.
He added that the company is launching an iOS app for SelfWealth clients which will help users trade on both Australian and U.S. markets from their mobile phones. An Android app will follow in the coming weeks.
While SelfWealth saw all this growth during the early weeks of 2021, it comes on the back of a successful half-year for the company over the six months to December 31, 2020.
First-half financial results
Compared to the same six-month period in 2019, SelfWealth increased revenue by 278 per cent in the December 2020 half-year, coming in at $8.4 million. This translated to a gross profit of just under $3.2 million for the half-year.
However, while SelfWealth increased total trades by 379 per cent to over 756,000 trades, the company still posted a net loss after tax for the half-year of around $433,000 — an improvement of 70.2 per cent on the previous corresponding period.
As of December 31, 2020, SelfWealth had $7.27 million in cash and cash equivalents on hand.
Shares in SelfWealth are trading lower by 4 per cent to 72 cents per share at 11:34 am AEDT. The company has a $154 million market cap.