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The Analysis Series: Everton’s new shirt front sponsors & main partners: CMC Markets PLC

Paul Quinn

1st July 2026

On 1st July 2026, Everton Football Club confirmed CMC Markets as the Club’s new Main Partner in what is described as a landmark multi-year agreement.

Analysis of CMC Markets below:

CMC Markets PLC

(LSE: CMCX)

Corporate Profile, Ownership, Governance and Financial Analysis

CMC Markets plc (LSE: CMCX) is a London-headquartered, FTSE 250-listed multi-asset financial services group, founded in 1989 by Peter Cruddas (now Lord Cruddas of Shoreditch) as a foreign exchange market-making business. 

Over 36 years it has evolved from a UK retail spread betting and contracts-for-difference (CFD) provider into a diversified, technology-led platform business spanning retail trading, retail investing/stockbroking, and an increasingly dominant business-to-business (B2B) and institutional platform-licensing operation.

FY2026 (year ended 31 March 2026) delivered record net operating income of £392.6 million, up 15% year-on-year, and profit before tax of £101.3 million, up 20%, with the board raising the full-year dividend by 21% to 13.8 pence per share. 

On 1 July 2026, CMC issued its second FY2027 guidance upgrade in a matter of weeks, lifting expected net operating income to at least £550 million (from a £460–480 million range set only in early June) and guiding to EBITDA of £250 million, driving the shares up 23% intraday to an all-time high of 562p and a market capitalisation of approximately £1.53 billion.

Also on 1 July 2026, CMC Markets was confirmed as Everton Football Club’s new front-of-shirt Main Partner from the 2026/27 season, in a reported three-year deal worth up to £50 million, replacing outgoing sponsor Stake (which moves to a sleeve sponsorship position). 

Key diligence headline

CMC is a founder-controlled, majority-owned public company (Lord Cruddas holds approximately 59% of the shares) with a strong balance sheet (CET1 ratio 292%) and improving profitability, but it carries live litigation risk in Australia (a Federal Court class action set for trial in late 2027), a recent regulatory remediation charge (£9.5m, Australian margin-netting matter), open tax enquiries in Europe, and a controlling shareholder whose political history (Conservative Party co-treasurer, 2012 “Cash for Access” affair, House of Lords appointment controversy, sustained large-scale party donations) carries reputational salience that may be relevant context for any counterparties, including Everton FC.

 

Company overview and history

CMC Markets was founded in 1989 by Peter Cruddas, then aged 35, as a foreign exchange market maker under the name Currency Management Corporation, reportedly started with initial capital of around £10,000. The business obtained UK regulatory authorisation in 1992 from the Association of Futures Brokers and Dealers (AFBD), predecessor to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), now the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Corporate structure

CMC Markets plc is the ultimate listed holding company (incorporated in England and Wales, LSE ticker CMCX, ISIN GB00B14SKR37), operating through regulated subsidiaries in each principal jurisdiction. Key operating entities identified in public disclosure and regulatory registers include:

The group discloses two reporting segments: Trading (CFDs, spread betting and treasury/capital markets activity) and Investing (stockbroking and wealth platforms). It serves retail, professional, stockbroking and institutional clients through regulated offices in 12 countries, with its most significant presences in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Singapore, and additional offices including Dubai and across Europe.

Regulatory licences (principal)

What CMC Markets does:

Retail trading (spread betting and CFDs)

CMC’s founding business remains its largest single revenue line: online leveraged trading in CFDs (globally) and financial spread bets (UK and Ireland only, a tax-advantaged derivative product). Clients can access over 12,000 financial instruments across shares, indices, foreign currencies (FX), commodities and treasuries. Net trading revenue represented approximately 74% of total FY2026 net operating income, at £289.5 million, up 16% year-on-year. This segment also includes a treasury management and capital markets function that invests surplus client and corporate liquidity to enhance yield, a meaningful and growing income contributor given elevated global interest rates.

Retail investing and stockbroking (CMC Invest)

The Investing segment provides online stockbroking, general investment accounts, stocks & shares ISAs, self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) and (in the UK) a Cash ISA product that has gained rapid traction, with assets under administration peaking above £300 million and a Junior ISA product in development. Net investing revenue rose 30% year-on-year in FY2026 to £57.8 million. The standout performer within this segment is the Australian stockbroking business, which delivered record net operating income of A$140.3 million in FY2026, up 32% year-on-year, driven by growth in assets under administration and active accounts, and which management now frames as central to the group’s earnings diversification story.

B2B, white-label and institutional platform licensing

The area of most strategic emphasis for the current management narrative is CMC Markets Connect, the group’s institutional/B2B trading-infrastructure platform, which supplies pricing, liquidity, execution, risk management and technology to banks, brokers, neobanks and hedge funds. Disclosed partnerships include:

Management commentary in the FY2026 results and the 1 July 2026 trading update is explicit that institutional and B2B income now represents the majority of group income, a structural shift from CMC’s historical identity as a pure retail leveraged-trading provider, and one that materially changes its risk and valuation profile.

 Multi-asset platform, “Super App” and digital assets

CMC has commenced rollout of a new multi-asset trading platform (including 24/5 US equities access and 24/7 crypto and bullion trading), which management describes as the foundation of a planned “Super App” unifying traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralised finance (DeFi) within a single platform, via a three-phase development roadmap. The FY2026 results also disclosed advancement of Web3 and DeFi infrastructure “towards operational capability,” alongside a post-period-end Fitch credit rating (referenced in the HY2026 announcement) as part of a broader institutional-credibility push.

Client base and geography

CMC serves a blend of retail, professional/high-net-worth, stockbroking and institutional clients. Historic analyst commentary places CMC’s average revenue per user (ARPU) at approximately $1,350, positioned between the higher-value, larger-scale IG Group (ARPU approximately $3,240) and Plus500 (approximately $2,310), and well above the high-volume, low-ARPU model of Warsaw-listed XTB (approximately $350). This reflects CMC’s traditional focus on a smaller base of higher-value, sophisticated retail and professional clients, now being supplemented at scale by the B2B distribution model.

Financial analysis

The following figures are drawn from CMC’s published preliminary/full-year results, RNS announcements and financial press coverage. FY runs to 31 March. Some earlier-year figures (FY2022–FY2024) are approximated from press commentary rather than primary filings and should be verified against the statutory Annual Report and Accounts before use in any formal submission.

Metric FY2023 FY2024 FY2025 FY2026
Net operating income (NOI) n/a – see note n/a – see note £340.1m £392.6m (+15%)
Profit before tax (PBT) sharp decline (–43% net profit) recovery phase £84.5m £101.3m (+20%)
Profit after tax — — £62.2m £73.7m (+19%)
Basic EPS (pence) — — 22.6p 27.5p
Full-year dividend (pence) — — 11.4p 13.8p (+21%)
PBT margin (% of NOI) — — 24.8% 25.8%

 

Note: CMC’s FY2023 annual report disclosed a 43% year-on-year drop in net profit, a 20% decline in operating revenue and a 9% reduction in active traders, alongside an 18% (220+ role) headcount reduction; the FY2023 first half closed with a pre-tax loss of approximately £2 million. FY2024 was reported as a mixed year, average revenue per client rose to £4,685, but total segregated client money fell by £31.8 million year-on-year. Precise FY2023/FY2024 NOI and PBT figures should be sourced directly from the statutory accounts for board-level accuracy.

FY2026 full-year results detail (year ended 31 March 2026, reported 4 June 2026)

Metric FY2026 FY2025 Change
Net operating income £392.6m £340.1m +15%
Net trading revenue £289.5m £248.0m +16%
Net investing revenue £57.8m £44.4–44.5m +30%
Operating expenses £288.8m £251.1m +15%
Profit before tax £101.3m £84.5m +20%
Profit after tax £73.7m £62.2m +19%
EBITDA £117.8m £103.4m +14%
Basic EPS 27.5p 22.6p +22%
Total dividend per share 13.8p 11.4p +21%
Total assets £1.006bn £729.5m +38%
CET1 capital ratio 292% 273% +19pp
Australian stockbroking NOI (A$) A$140.3m A$106.3m +32%

 

The FY2026 result included a £5.2 million remediation charge relating to an industry-wide Australian margin-netting matter, taken in the first half, which took the total related charge for the year to £9.5 million on a group basis and contributed to operating costs running ahead of the company-compiled analyst consensus of £288 million against an original guidance base of approximately £250 million (excluding variable remuneration). Costs were also elevated by higher variable remuneration tied to the strong performance of the Australian business. Despite the cost overshoot relative to guidance, PBT of £101.3 million still represented 20% growth, though it landed below the £110 million consensus tracked by Jefferies at the time.

Sell-side reaction (Jefferies, 4 June 2026) maintained a “Hold” rating with a 275p price target following the FY2026 results, noting that NOI was running ahead of consensus (up 15% and 3% above expectations) but that cost growth had offset some of the upside, and that the market might “wait for further progress before pricing [B2B momentum] in.” Jefferies estimated the FY2027 guidance upgrade (see 4.4) would lift consensus PBT by approximately £50 million (c.40%) to around £165 million.

Half-year (HY2026) results, reported 20 November 2025

FY2027 guidance and 1 July 2026 trading update

Breaking, same-day development : 1 July 2026

CMC issued a trading update on 1 July 2026 materially raising FY2027 guidance for the second time in under a month. Net operating income guidance for the year to March 2027 was lifted to at least £550 million (from the £460–480 million range set at the June 2026 results), with EBITDA guidance of £250 million (versus £117.8 million delivered in FY2026). Cost guidance excluding variable remuneration was held at approximately £280 million, implying substantial positive operating leverage. Shares surged approximately 23% intraday to an all-time high of 562p, making CMC the best performer in the FTSE 250 that session (the index was broadly flat). Management attributed the upgrade to “exponential and exceptional growth” in the B2B platform business. The next scheduled update is the HY2027 results on 19 November 2026.

Share price, listing and market capitalisation

CMC Markets plc trades on the London Stock Exchange main market under ticker CMCX (ISIN GB00B14SKR37), and is a constituent of the FTSE All-Share, FTSE 350, FTSE 250 and FTSE 350 Low Yield indices, within the Brokerage Services sector. As at 1 July 2026, approximately 269.7 million ordinary shares (25p nominal) were in issue, with the share price having traded in a 12-month range of roughly 371p to 574p and a market capitalisation of approximately £1.53 billion following the 1 July guidance-driven rally (an equity value of roughly $1.57–1.6 billion at prevailing FX rates, as separately reported around the June results). Basic P/E was recently cited at approximately 18.4x, with a dividend yield around 3.75% and trailing twelve-month dividend growth of approximately 66%, reflecting the scale of the FY2026 payout increase.

The group’s stated dividend policy is to return 50% of profit after tax to shareholders via the combination of interim and final dividends, consistent with the 5.5p interim / 8.3p final split declared for FY2026 (13.8p total, up 21% year-on-year).

Balance sheet and capital position

Total assets grew 38% to £1.006 billion in FY2026 (from £729.5 million), and the group’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio, a core regulatory solvency metric for FCA/ASIC-regulated trading firms,  rose to 292% from 273%, indicating a well-capitalised balance sheet relative to regulatory minimums. The group also referenced a post-period-end Fitch credit rating milestone in its HY2026 disclosure, part of a broader push to strengthen institutional counterparty credibility ahead of scaling its B2B and treasury activities.

 

Ownership, leadership and governance

Controlling shareholder: Lord (Peter) Cruddas of Shoreditch

Peter Andrew Cruddas, Baron Cruddas (born 30 September 1953), founded and remains Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder of CMC Markets. As at the end of January 2026, his beneficial shareholding stood at approximately 59.02% of the company, a rare degree of founder control for a FTSE 250 constituent, meaning CMC operates in practice as a controlled company notwithstanding its public listing and premium-segment governance obligations.

Cruddas built his fortune from the company he started in 1989 with reported initial capital of around £10,000. He was named the richest man in the City of London in the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated fortune of £860 million, and Forbes estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion (c.£830m) in March 2012. He and his wife, Lady Fiona Cruddas, were reported at 142nd on the most recent Sunday Times Rich List with a joint net worth of approximately £1.16 billion, coinciding with the Everton sponsorship announcement coverage.

Political history and controversies

Philanthropy

Cruddas founded the Peter Cruddas Foundation in 2006, supporting disadvantaged and disengaged young people; he has personally donated in excess of £16 million to the Foundation, which has supported more than 200 charities including The Prince’s Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Magic Breakfast.

Parliamentary disclosure

Lord Cruddas’s House of Lords Register of Interests lists him as Director and CEO of CMC Markets plc, and as a director of CMC Markets Holdings Limited, CMC Markets UK Holdings Limited and CMC Markets Overseas Holdings Limited.

Board of directors (as at mid-2026)

Name Role Notes
Lord (Peter) Cruddas Founder, CEO & Executive Director Controls c.59% of shares; also chairman/director of principal UK operating subsidiary
Paul Wainscott Non-Executive Chairman Confirmed appointment of Emma Earp to the board (March 2026 announcement)
Laurence Booth Director, Global Head of Capital Markets Presents financial results alongside CEO
Clare Francis Non-Executive Director & Risk Committee Chair (departing) Announced she will not seek re-election at the 2026 AGM; ex-CEO Standard Chartered Bank UK; c.25 years’ banking/markets board experience across Lloyds, HSBC, Standard Chartered
Stuart Manning Independent Non-Executive Director Listed among current independent NEDs
Emma Earp Independent Non-Executive Director Appointed with effect from 1 April 2026; solicitor, Foot Anstey LLP, 15+ years banking & finance transactional experience; joins Audit, Nomination, Remuneration and Risk Committees

 

The board’s committee structure follows standard UK premium-listing practice (Audit, Nomination, Remuneration and Risk Committees), with a lead independent Non-Executive Director role responsible for acting as a sounding board for the Chairman and leading the NED evaluation of the Chairman’s performance. A live governance item for diligence purposes is the pending departure of Clare Francis as Risk Committee Chair at the 2026 AGM, given her seniority (former CEO, Standard Chartered Bank UK) and the risk-sensitive nature of a leveraged trading business, her succession process (already initiated via the Nomination Committee) is worth tracking.

Free float and institutional ownership

With Lord Cruddas controlling approximately 59% of the shares, CMC’s free float is materially constrained relative to a typical FTSE 250 constituent, a factor relevant both to index weighting/liquidity and to minority-shareholder governance dynamics. Norges Bank (Norway’s central bank, managing the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund) disclosed a stake of approximately 3% in 2017, an early institutional validation; current institutional ownership should be verified against the most recent TR-1 major shareholder notifications on the company’s regulatory news feed, which were outside the scope of the sources reviewed for this report.

Noteworthy items, litigation and regulatory history

Australian Federal Court class action (Zulic v CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd)

CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd is the defendant in a representative proceeding, Edin Zulic & Anor v CMC Markets Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (NSD410/2022), filed in the Federal Court of Australia in 2022 by law firm Johnson Winter Slattery and funded by litigation funder Harbour Fund V, L.P. The claim concerns the alleged marketing and sale of highly leveraged CFDs and binary options to retail investors between 7 November 2011 and 30 April 2021, alleging the products were unsuitable for retail clients, that CMC made misrepresentations about their nature and risk, and that CMC operated a system likely to cause,  and which did cause,  retail investors to trade unsuitable, highly leveraged products.

For context, CMC is not the only Australian CFD issuer facing this style of claim, IG Markets, IC Markets and others have faced comparable proceedings, reflecting a sector-wide legacy exposure following ASIC’s 2017–2020 reviews, which found that a majority of retail clients lose money trading CFDs, and the subsequent 2021 Product Intervention Order that tightened leverage limits (30:1 to 2:1 depending on asset class) and other retail protections.

ASIC margin-netting remediation (2025–2026)

In November 2025 disclosure, and reflected in both the HY2026 and FY2026 results, CMC recognised a £5.2 million remediation charge (rising to a cumulative £9.5 million across the relevant period) relating to an industry-wide margin-netting matter identified by ASIC across multiple CFD issuers, alongside six other trading firms. This aligns with a wider pattern of ASIC-driven CFD remediation activity — ASIC has previously overseen more than $17.4 million in compensation across seven CFD issuers for breaches of leverage-ratio limits under the 2021 Product Intervention Order, arising from IT change-management weaknesses and manual application errors. This is a sector-wide regulatory theme rather than a CMC-specific failing, but it is a live cost item and a marker of ongoing supervisory intensity in CMC’s largest non-UK market.

Open European tax enquiries

The FY2026 results disclosure also references unresolved open tax enquiries in European and other group operations. No further detail, quantum or timeline was available in the sources reviewed; this should be followed up directly via the FY2026 Annual Report and Accounts (notes to the financial statements) once published in full, and via any subsequent RNS updates.

Prior legal history: Tchenguiz debt recovery

In July 2022, CMC Spreadbet Plc initiated legal proceedings against businessman Robert Tchenguiz seeking repayment of a £1.31 million debt related to spread betting activity,  illustrative of the counterparty credit risk inherent in CMC’s leveraged trading business model, though immaterial in scale relative to group financials.

Everton FC sponsorship (announced 1 July 2026)

On 1 July 2026, Everton Football Club confirmed CMC Markets as its new Main Partner and front-of-shirt sponsor for the 2026/27 season onward, across the Men’s, Women’s and Under-21 teams, in what is reported (though not officially confirmed by either party) to be a three-year deal worth up to £50 million. CMC replaces outgoing sponsor Stake, the Australian-Curaçaoan gambling operator, which becomes Everton’s new sleeve sponsor, a change driven by the Premier League’s self-imposed ban (approved by 18 of 20 clubs in 2023, with Everton voting in favour) on gambling companies holding front-of-shirt positions from 2026/27, rather than by any voluntary decision by Everton to exit the Stake relationship entirely.

Diligence note for Everton-facing analysis

The CMC deal lands as Everton, under the Friedkin Group’s ownership, seeks to reshape its commercial identity around the new Hill Dickinson Stadium. CMC’s own history, a founder-controlled leveraged-trading firm with an active Australian retail-client class action and a controlling shareholder whose political donations and peerage have drawn sustained scrutiny, is a relevant, if different in kind, reputational consideration to weigh alongside the more direct concerns raised about Stake. From a pure commercial-financial standpoint, CMC’s balance sheet strength (CET1 292%, £1.5bn+ market cap, record and upgraded earnings guidance) provides genuine assurance on the counterparty’s ability to fund and honour a multi-year, up-to-£50m commitment.

 

Competitive positioning

CMC operates in the UK/European/APAC retail leveraged-trading (CFD and spread betting) sector alongside IG Group, Plus500 and Warsaw-listed XTB as the principal listed comparators, with a growing secondary positioning as a B2B trading-infrastructure and stockbroking platform provider.

Company Approx. ARPU (2025 data) Positioning
IG Group $3,240 Market leader by scale and revenue; highest ARPU; large, diversified international retail base
Plus500 $2,310 High-margin, marketing-led retail CFD specialist; smaller institutional/B2B presence
CMC Markets $1,350 Mid-tier ARPU; increasingly differentiated by B2B/institutional platform licensing and Australian stockbroking scale
XTB $350 Mass-market, high-volume, low-ARPU model; largest active client base of the four but thinnest per-client economics

 

CMC and IG are noted by analysts as “better insulated” than XTB from a declining interest-rate environment given their higher ARPU and more substantial treasury/interest income, whereas XTB’s volume-driven model is seen as more vulnerable if trading conditions tighten. CMC’s own strategic differentiation, as articulated by management, is the shift toward a majority-B2B/institutional income mix — a positioning not directly replicated at comparable scale by IG, Plus500 or XTB, and one that (if delivered as guided) could justify a valuation re-rating away from a pure retail-trading multiple toward something closer to a fintech infrastructure/platform multiple, which appears to be the market’s read-through of the 1 July 2026 share price reaction.

Summary 

Strengths

Risks and watch items

 

Principal sources

 

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