Former Market Darling Is Now the U.K.’s Second-Worst Stock

(Bloomberg) -- This year has gone from bad to worse for a former U.K. stock-market favorite.

Shares of Plus500 Ltd., an Israel-based spread-betting platform operator, have plunged about 60 percent this year following the disclosure of a reporting error in February and a warning today that successful client trades and low volatility across markets are hurting sales.

The stock is now the second-worst performer in the U.K.’s FTSE All-Share Index year-to-date, beaten only by opioid addiction treatment company Indivior Plc, which is embroiled in a multibillion-dollar fraud case. Plus500 had racked up gains of about 300 percent during a two-year rally that began in early 2017, making it among the benchmark’s best performers in the past two years.

Now that outperformance has been nearly completely wiped out.

“2018 was a momentous year for Plus500,” Chairman Penny Judd said in the company’s annual report that was released alongside the quarterly update. 2019’s annual report may strike a different tone.

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