European Broker BUX to Sell Its UK Business Amid Poor Performance

Following the publication of disappointing financial results in 2022, Europe's leading online broker BUX unveiled its plan to sell its British business, BUX Financial Services Limited (BUX UK), and exit the UK retail trading market.

In the latest Companies House filing, BUX stated that due to the "volatility and turmoil caused on both a global and national scale", as well as the continued impact of the migration of its UK clients to its EU-based entity, the turnover of BUX UK slumped by 83.5% from £9.2 million in 2021 to £1.5 million in 2022, resulting in a loss of £2.26 million in the year.

BUX said its EU-based subsidiary now contributes a greater proportion of revenue. In 2022, BUX focused on its platform development and maintaining its competitiveness in the European market, instead of marketing products and services to expand the UK customer base. The migration of its customers from the UK to the EU entity has further boosted the performance of its EU business.

The neobroker has made a strategy decision to review the cost base of BUX UK and implement a restructuring plan to reduce the entity's operating costs. This implies that there will be certain reductions in staff and terminations of specific contracts in order to streamline the UK organization and facilitate its progress towards achieving a break-even point and becoming self-sustainable.

According to the regulatory filing, BUX has held "extensive discussions" with a potential buyer regarding the sale of BUX UK, and the two companies have already signed a "share sales and purchase agreement" on August 31, 2023. however, BUX has not disclosed any information about the acquirer.