BUSINESS LIVE: Plus500 profits slump as trading volumes fall

Nigel Farage has accused NatWest of kicking its review into the closure of his bank account ‘into the long grass’.

The banking sector is continuing to feel the fallout of the debanking scandal, which came to light when Coutts closed the former Ukip leader’s account without warning due to his political views.

Sales of Graham Norton’s wine are fizzing as drinkers increasingly seek out celebrity alcohol brands.

The TV host’s GN label, which he launched a decade ago, sold more than 3.7million bottles last year, according to its New Zealand maker Invivo.

The firm had to buy more vineyards this year to meet demand.

Plus500 profits slumped 43 per cent in the first half as the online platform suffered a drop in trading volumes.

Core profit for the six months to the end of June fell to $174.1 million, from $305.3 million a year earlier.

Separately, the London-listed company announced a $60million share buy back.

‘In the first half of the year, we executed on our strategy to produce a strong performance, thanks to the power of Plus500’s market-leading proprietary technology and our consistent ability to attract and retain higher value customers over the long term.

‘Our increasingly diversified revenue streams, broadened product offering, deep customer relationships and the structural growth drivers in our end markets, mean we are able to deliver both growth and attractive shareholder returns.

‘With continued operational and financial momentum being achieved, we also made substantial progress in delivering against our strategic priorities, particularly in harnessing the attractive growth opportunities in the US futures market and obtaining new regulatory licences in the high growth UAE market and very recently in the Bahamas

Our track record of delivering outstanding shareholder returns puts us amongst the top cohort of companies on a total returns basis within the FTSE All-Share Index over the past ten years.’