Plus500
(LSE: PLUS) executives completed a £67.1 million share sale today (Tuesday),
triggering a sharp selloff that erased up to 10% of the company’s market value
before stocks recovered slightly to trade down 6% at 4,430 pence.
CEO David
Zruia, CFO Elad Even-Chen and CMO Nir Zats sold a combined 1.5 million shares
at £44.78 each to Goldman Sachs International as principal, with Panmure
Liberum intermediating the transaction. The block represents 2.14% of Plus500’s
issued share capital.
Just last month, Zruia and
Even-Chen each received Plus500 shares worth £8.5 million under the company’s 2026
deferred bonus scheme. Now they’re liquidating positions they’ve held since the
broker’s 2013 IPO, their first-ever sales in 13 years.
Even-Chen
offloaded the largest block at 940,000 shares, reducing his stake from 2.2
shares to 1.3. Zruia sold almost 451,000 shares, cutting his holdings to the
same 1.3 million-share position. Zats disposed of 109,000 shares, leaving him
with 131,000 shares representing 0.2% of the company.
Shares Jumped 20% in 2026
The
executives’ timing becomes more striking when examining what happened to their
bonus shares. According to Finance
Magnates Intelligence estimates, the company’s shares rose roughly 20%
between the grant date and Tuesday’s sale.
That means
Zruia and Even-Chen each saw their £8.5 million bonus awards grow to
approximately £10.2 million before the selloff, a gain of £1.7 million each in
under a month. Zats watched his £120,000 award climb to around £144,000.
These
remain paper gains; the bonus shares are subject to vesting restrictions and
can’t be sold immediately. Still, the numbers show how much value just this
portion of their holdings accumulated in a single month, driven by favorable
market conditions and Plus500’s strong performance.
Lockup Doesn’t Calm Markets
The three
executives agreed not to sell additional shares for 365 days following the
transaction, subject to waiver by Panmure Liberum. That lockup period hasn’t
reassured investors.
The stock
has climbed over 200% since 2024 and remains up 22% year-to-date despite
Tuesday’s decline. Shares opened down 10% before trimming losses, though the
chart now shows a sizeable downward gap.
The sale
occurred just days after Plus500 launched a
$100 million share buyback program as part of $187.5 million in total shareholder returns announced
with its 2025 results.
The company
reported record performance, with average
customer deposits more than doubling to $26,900 and its non-OTC business crossing $100
million in revenue.
Zruia and
Even-Chen each earned $4.97 million in total compensation for the last financial year,
including $1.09 million in fixed salary and $3.9 million in variable pay. The
bonus shares they received in January pushed their total recent compensation
higher.
Expansion Continues
Plus500 has
been executing an expansion beyond its core CFD business. The company
recently launched
prediction markets in the US offering Kalshi’s event contracts under its Plus500 Futures brand,
completed a $20 million acquisition of Mehta Equities in India, and acquired an
Indonesian broker.
The
London-listed company reported in
January that
half its revenue now comes from customers trading over five years,
demonstrating improved customer retention. It posted earnings of $792 million
and EBITDA of $348 million for 2025, both ahead of analyst expectations.
BlackRock
holds approximately 6% of Plus500 shares, making it the largest shareholder,
while JPMorgan owns 5.1%. Artemis Investment Management and Capital Group have
also taken stakes above 5%.
The company
held approximately $800 million in cash on its balance sheet as of December 31,
2025, providing capital for both the buyback program and continued geographic
expansion. Whether that financial strength will offset insider selling concerns
remains unclear as the stock digests Tuesday’s decline.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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