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

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.

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

“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.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Easton in London at jeaston7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Beth Mellor at bmellor@bloomberg.net, Phil Serafino

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