smartTrade Technologies' UK subsidiary raised net profit 22% to £3.39 million in the year to March 31, 2026, while revenue slipped 0.9% to £19.55 million. The London-based software unit filed the full-year accounts with Companies House on Monday.
They are the first accounts to show smartTrade's purchase of kACE, the derivatives pricing business it agreed to buy from BGC Group for up to $119 million in December. The UK unit booked a £5.21 million investment in Kace Financial Limited.
It also raised dividends 46% from a year earlier to £2.73 million, and the director recommended a further £3.3 million.
Operating profit rose 44% year over year to £4.97 million. Cost of sales fell 9% to £13.08 million and administrative expenses dropped 20% to £1.5 million. Gross margin widened to 33.1% from 27%, by FinanceMagnates.com's calculation.
London's trading industry is coming home!
Profit Is 16 Times the 2022 Low
The unit's profit has grown every year since a slump in fiscal 2022, and the payouts to its French parent have grown with it.
Net profit stood at £2.13 million in fiscal 2021 before it fell to £206,885 a year later, as gross profit dropped to £1.1 million from £3.78 million.
It recovered to £1.3 million in fiscal 2023 and £2.22 million in fiscal 2024, the year operating profit doubled to almost £3 million. The unit paid no dividend in fiscal 2023, then £1.29 million, £1.87 million and £2.73 million in the three years that followed.
Fiscal 2026 profit is more than 16 times the 2022 level. The three dividends add up to £5.89 million, about 70% of the £8.39 million the unit earned over the same period, by FinanceMagnates.com's calculation.
Sales Fell in Britain and Grew in Europe
David Vincent, smartTrade's chief executive and the unit's sole director, credited sales in Europe and Britain and a reorganization aimed at regions where the company is expanding. He "foresees no specific risks or uncertainties," he wrote in the accounts.
The unit develops and licenses software for foreign exchange and fixed income trading in Europe and the EMEA region. Currency moves also helped this year: it booked a £58,178 exchange gain after a £586,620 loss in fiscal 2025.
UK customers generated £7.82 million, down 7.9% from a year earlier. Sales to the rest of Europe rose 10% to £6.57 million, and revenue from the rest of the world slipped 1.8% to £5.16 million.
Fees the UK company paid to smartTrade's French parent fell 13% to £10.98 million, according to the related-party note. Average headcount rose to 12 from nine, and staff costs climbed 22% to £1.51 million.
The UK Unit Now Owes Its Parent
The £5.21 million covers Kace Financial Limited, a company set up on December 1, 2025, that passed from BGC's Fenics Software to the UK unit on December 31, Companies House records show. Its first accounts are due by September 2027.
BGC said smartTrade paid $80 million upfront, with up to $39 million more tied to performance targets, and completed the sale on January 6.
The balance with the parent swung the other way. At year-end the UK unit owed smartTrade's French holding £13.61 million, after being owed £12.56 million a year earlier, and it paid £269,699 in interest at a rate of 4.44%.
That left net current liabilities of £1.26 million, against net current assets of £3.55 million in March 2025. Cash rose to £1.83 million from £1.29 million.
The unit's ultimate parent is Dreamstart Holding SAS of Aix-en-Provence, the accounts show. TA Associates became smartTrade's main investor in 2025, when Hg sold out.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
Source: Finance Magnates
