Joy for bosses but misery for investors at Plus 500

Bad timing at online trading company Plus 500.

On the day a huge fall in its share price saw £254m wiped off its value, it revealed its bosses scooped bumper pay days last year.

asaf Elimelech and Elad EvenChen, Plus 500’s chief executive and chief finance officer respectively, took home over £ 4.6m each in 2018, more than double the year before.

The eye-watering salaries, which included a £3.6m bonus for each, were revealed as Plus 500 conceded the first three months of 2019 had been ‘disappointing’.

Shares plunged 31.2pc, or 224.4p, to 495p after the company posted a 65pc fall in revenue for the period to £41.1m.

Elimelech and Even- Chen’s bonuses added insult to injury for investors already nursing large losses. almost 48pc of shareholders earlier this year voted against an amendment to the pay policy which beefed up the bosses’ rewards.

Though the bonuses were based on Plus 500’s performance in 2018, in which it released record results, shareholders saw little benefit as the stock slipped 1.7pc over the course of the year.

Plus 500 blamed the poor start to this year on quiet markets.

Elimelech said: ‘Given the level of global political and economic news, financial markets were surprisingly subdued in the period, which reduced the number of trading opportunities for customers.’

He added that the tumbling revenue figure was ‘disappointing’, but that Plus 500 had still increased its customer numbers by 21,306, 10pc more than over the same period last year.

Firms like Plus 500 have had a tough time of late, after the EU introduced new rules designed to protect customers from losing money. Just last week, Plus 500’s rival CMC Markets said its revenues were being squeezed by the crackdown on risky spread betting and trading of contracts for difference. CMC also slid by 4.3pc, or 3.5p, to 77.5p yesterday, while IG Group was lower by 0.3pc, or 1.8p, at 515.2p. doorstep lender Provident

Financial upped the ante in its battle with Non- Standard Finance, which had tabled an unrequited £1.3bn offer for the business in February.

Provident blasted its suitor for not answering its questions over historic dividend payments, share buybacks and the offer itself. Provvie’s shares fell by 0.6pc, or 3.2p, to 518.4p, while NSF’s were flat at 52.6p.

But in a statement slipped out after markets closed, NSF admitted it had indeed broken company rules over dividend payments.

The admission will be seen as highly embarrassing for NSF, although it is not expected to lead to any change in the firm’s financial statements or dividend payments. Pets at Home was in trouble after one of its major investors, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, decided to sell its whole chunk of 54.2m shares.

It flogged them for 148p each, 5.2p cheaper than their price at the end of Thursday’s trading. as the market became flooded with Pets at Home shares, their value plummeted by 14.2pc, or 23.3p, to 140p. Miniature wargaming company

Games Workshop was in a happier place, noting that sales and profits were ahead of this time last year. Famous for products such as The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game, the firm jumped by 12.1pc, or 402p, to 3712p.

National Express shares just managed to motor into the black as it bought 60pc of We drive U, a company offering a school buslike service for adults. It shuttles staff into their work places in areas like Silicon Valley, Los angeles and Boston. National Express edged up 0.6pc, or 2.4p, to 414p.

The FTSE 100 edged up 0.3pc, or 19.11 points to 7,437.06.