Market volatility is rarely good news for investors but it has been a significant positive for trading platforms as the latest updates from Plus500 (PLUS) and CMC Markets (CMCX) demonstrate.

Big swings in markets create more opportunities to make short-term profit even if this comes with significantly elevated levels of risk.

At a time when many businesses are cutting dividends Shore Capital has nearly doubled its dividend per share forecast for CMC from 8p to 15p for the financial year ending 31 March 2020.

Trading revenue is expected to have doubled year-on-year with new clients joining and existing clients reactivating accounts.

Plus500’s own first quarter release on 7 April was perhaps even more eye-catching with revenue up 487% to $316.6m or in other words 89% of the revenue it generated in the whole of 2019.

The number of active customers has doubled to more than 180,000. Crucially the rate of customer wins has significantly outpaced marketing spend over the period.

The strong operational performance has been reflected in CMC’s and Plus500’s share price rallies. Both stocks are firmly higher year-to-date against a weak market backdrop.

The challenge for these businesses will be to hold on to clients when things calm down, and there is evidence this is already beginning to happen. The VIX index, which measures volatility, is at just over half the levels it was in mid-March.

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