Plus500 (LON:PLUS), the UK’s second largest CFD provider for retail customers announced its preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2015 on Wednesday where the company said that there was a less than expected fall in EBITDA offsetting marketing and regulatory costs.

The company noted that new and active customer numbers increased by 28% and 29% respectively to 136,540 (FY 2014: 105,976) and 84,858 (FY 2014: 66,553).

Revenue increased to $275.6 million from $228.9 million the prior year however due to compliance onboarding processes which stopped the company from taking on new UK customers in 2015 the businesses net profit fell to $96.6 million compared to $102.5 million in 2014.

Gal Haber, Chief Executive of Plus500, commented:

“We are pleased to announce a strong set of 2015 KPIs which reflect Plus500’s high profile brand and its robust business model. Significant cash flows have enabled the declaration of substantial dividends despite the significant disruption to our business in May 2015, which required a remediation of our UK customer base and for the remainder of the year suspension of Plus500UK onboarding new customers.

Plus500 had a record number of both New Customers and Active Customers in 2015. Whilst marketing expenses are recognised and paid for when incurred, these New Customers are expected to contribute to significant revenue growth and a higher EBITDA margin in 2016.

We continue to be at the cutting edge of platform technology with new apps being launched such as the Windows Phone and Apple Watch apps. The majority of revenues and signups come from mobile devices which reflects Plus500’s speed of innovation compared to its competitors.

We made significant progress enhancing our regulatory compliance and onboarding processes. We were pleased that Plus500UK began accepting new UK customers again in January 2016 and we are not subject to any regulatory restrictions in each of our regulated entities.

We enter 2016 with more high value customers, an enhanced trading platform, more robust processes, a stronger brand and more routes to market, supported by a strong balance sheet. We are therefore confident that Plus500 will continue growing and we believe we will have another successful year with higher EBITDA margin than achieved in 2015. We have started the new financial year strongly and anticipate an active first quarter given strong customer additions and current market volatility.”

The Board said it regretted the disruption caused to customers and shareholders during 2015 when temporary suspension of customer accounts and onboarding in the UK took place.

The company did receive a bid from Playtech plc however it was later terminated as Playtech plc were unable to obtain regulatory approval prior to the year end. The Company said it adopted a “business as usual” policy during the lengthy acquisition process whilst investing in its marketing, technology and regulatory operations which has resulted in the business now being at its strongest position since its inception.