SPREAD betting house CMC Markets announced it was on target to set up its own trading platform yesterday, after it announced assets were "close to record highs".

CMC has had a dramatic couple of years, with an initial boom during the pandemic which plummeted into a profit warning last September after a sharp slowdown in trading activity.

Since then, the company has been looking to split the business into two, and already has a strong share trading arm in Australia.

In yesterday's statement, Lord Peter Cruddas, former Conservative party co-treasurer and CMC founder, said: "I am pleased with the ongoing trends we're seeing in client money, and physical share assets in Australia.

"In addition, the team is on track to launch our new UK investment platform in the first half of the calendar year."

The firm added it was confident in hitting net operating income within the range of £250m to £280m for the full year, in line with expectations.

The confident announcement stands in contrast from the firm's disappointing half-year announcement in November, which saw revenues halved to £128m. This was perceived as a massive blow to Cruddas, who owns more than 60 per cent of the stock.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper