IG Group revenue falls 14% in Q3 as trading retention slips, but client growth climbs

IG Group Holdings, the London-listed operator of online trading platforms for retail and institutional clients, issued a third-quarter trading update on October 2, 2026, reporting an expected total revenue of approximately £240 million for the quarter ended September 30 — a 14% decline from the same period a year earlier.

The company attributed the drop primarily to lower OTC revenue retention, the share of client trading activity that converts into net revenue after accounting for client gains and losses, which fell to approximately 70% during the quarter. Retention rates in OTC trading businesses can swing from quarter to quarter based on market volatility and the direction of client positioning, and a lower rate in a single quarter does not necessarily indicate a change in the underlying client base.

That underlying client base, in fact, moved in the opposite direction from revenue: IG reported organic first trades — a measure of new client trading activity — up more than 25%, and active customers up approximately 17% year-on-year. The combination of rising client engagement alongside falling quarterly revenue illustrates the degree to which OTC trading-platform revenue depends on retention dynamics that are separate from client acquisition.

IG maintained its guidance for the full 2026 financial year, continuing to expect total revenue growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range despite the softer third quarter. The company did not revise that outlook in the October 2 update, suggesting management views the quarter’s retention dip as within the range of normal variability for the business rather than a change to the annual trajectory.