Cruddas nets £5 million as CMC’s clients up spending

The founder of CMC Markets, Peter Cruddas, picked up another £5 million in dividends on Thursday as the spread-better’s focus on high-spending “tuna” continued to reap rewards.

The average spend of a CMC customer in the UK jumped 31% to £2860 as the business concentrates on the 20% of high rollers which generate 80% of its revenues.

Pre-tax profits for the six months to September 30 jumped 58% to £29.8 million and CMC is paying an interim divi of 2.98p, generating the payout for multi-millionaire Cruddas, who owns 57% of the shares.

CMC’s move into Australia is also on track after it struck a partnership deal with ANZ, due to launch in September next year.

European regulation and potential restrictions on leverage limits remain a concern but Cruddas — a strong Leave campaigner in last year’s referendum — said: “If you go outside Europe it is a different world out there.”

The City gave the thumbs-up to the numbers, giving shares a boost of 7.5p, or 5%, to 174.25p.