XTB breaks the bank and presents plans for the future [Social trading, IKE, IKZE and others]

XTB presented preliminary financial results for 2023. During this period, the company generated the highest consolidated net profit in its history, amounting to PLN 791,3 million. Additionally, XTB boasted about its plans for the future, including: the introduction of IKE and IKZE accounts, social trading and the possibility of purchasing bonds. The competition has something to fear.

XTB acquired over 300. customers in 2023

High volatility on the financial and commodity markets and intensive marketing activities resulted in last year being record-breaking both in terms of the number of customers acquired and their activity.

Results in a nutshell:

• 312 thousand new customers acquired in 2023, of which over 77 thousand in the fourth quarter itself
• Increase in the number of active customers by 51,0% y/y to 408,5 thousand.
• In the fourth quarter, the volume of customer trading on CFD instruments increased by 4,0% y/y and amounted to 1,789 million
• In the fourth quarter, profitability per lot increased by 119,0% y/y and amounted to PLN 276

Dynamic business development combined with a constantly growing customer base, combined with favorable market conditions, resulted in XTB recording record financial results. Throughout 2023, the company achieved a consolidated profit net profit of PLN 791,3 million, czyli over 3,3% more than a year ago (PLN 766,1 million). Operating revenues after four quarters of last year reached the value of PLN 1 million, compared to PLN 1 million at the end of 444,2 (an increase of 2022% y/y). However, operating costs in 10,0 amounted to PLN 2023 million (in 693,6: PLN 2022 million).

An important indicator influencing the result is the average number of active customers - in the fourth quarter it amounted to 310. compared to 203 thousand in the same period of the previous year. Throughout 2023, the number of active customers amounted to 408,5 thousand. (in 2022: 270,6 thousand)

– The results of last year show that the strategy we have chosen allows us to achieve repeatable and, above all, satisfactory results. I would point out that in addition to record cumulative net profit, we achieved the highest number of active customers in history. This shows that our platform is becoming the first choice for anyone who wants to manage their savings - comments Omar Arnaout, president of the board of XTB.

Investment plans are a bull's-eye

The introduction of a new product to the offer undoubtedly contributed to the very successful last quarter of 2023 - investment plans. This service is intended for people who plan to invest/save in the long term. The simplicity of this solution, combined with very attractive trading conditions (0% commission for turnover PLN 100 EUR per month) and intuitive mobile application, has certainly attracted a new group of customers who were not necessarily interested in XTB services before.

Fashion for investing savings in... ETFs and the so-called Passive investing has been going on in Poland for some time, but compared to other Western countries, it can be said that it is just in its infancy. And this means that we will certainly see a further increase in the number of customers in the coming quarters. But that's not all that XTB is preparing for us.

Product plans for 2024

As in previous years, also in 2024, XTB will focus on acquiring new clients and expanding this group to include people interested not only in investing, but also in broadly understood financial products. Therefore, the Company plans not only to expand its offer, but also to introduce changes aimed at increasing the comfort of use of the investment platform and mobile application.

– Very good financial results in recent years motivate us to develop even further. The result of our many months of work will be a very intense year in terms of new products in 2024. This year we plan to expand our investment offer by: debentures, and Polish customers will be able to use increasingly popular accounts IKE i IKZE. We also want to introduce a social function to our platform, i.e Social Trading enabling tracking of transactions of selected users –Mowi Omar Arnaout.

Social trading, or a (re)volution on the Polish market

Social investing, or social trading (sometimes also called copy trading), is nothing new. For years, this type of trade has been the foundation for, among others, broker eToro. The popular ZuluTrade platform is also based on this, and copy trading itself has recently been offered by the Binance cryptocurrency exchange (we have been testing this service for some time on our own resources - read more).

What is social trading? In short, it is the ability to duplicate other traders' transactions on our account. By copying the moves of others, we rely on their actions and strategies, hence it is an interesting way to diversify the portfolio or a convenient opportunity "passive" trading. Of course, it works both ways - if we are an effective trader, we can allow ourselves to be copied, thanks to which we will receive additional profit, e.g. from the turnover or part of the profit earned. Due to the fact that trading itself does not involve transferring any funds for investment to a third party, no license authorizing asset management is necessary (e.g. an investment advisor license issued by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority).

Nearly a decade ago, the platform owned by TMS Brokers – Go4x – attempted to introduce social trading to the Polish market. However, after about a year of operation, it disappeared forever.

But if social trading is nothing new, why could it be a revolution? There are at least two reasons:

1. XTB is famous for solutions tailored to the needs of traders. Refined rules, functionality of the offered solutions and a fair cooperation model are the key to social trading. There is a good chance that the Polish broker will once again positively surprise the industry in this respect.
2. Social trading is still relatively unpopular in Poland. The mentioned attempt to enter this segment with Go4x was a long time ago, and apart from them, practically no one else in our country took up the challenge.

We are looking forward to the first details about this solution.

XTB as a competitor to banks and Revolut?

Another idea (and probably the most surprising) is the plan to introduce the so-called virtual wallet i multi currency card, which has been offered by Revolut for years, as well as increasingly classic commercial banks. XTB plans to take a piece of this cake.

XTB CEO, Omar Arnaout comments:

- Additionally, this year, XTB's offer is planned to include a product thanks to which we have the opportunity to become a comprehensive platform for everyday financial management. This will be possible thanks to the introduction of a virtual wallet with a multi-currency card enabling customers using the XTB mobile application to make card transactions, payments and transfers, as well as currency exchange.

Detailed information summarizing the activities of the XTB Group after four quarters of 2023 and preliminary financial and operational results are presented in current report.

76% of retail investors' accounts record losses as a result of trading CFDs at this supplier. Think about whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford a high risk of losing money.