Following the trend we have seen from other leading retail forex brokers, FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) has reported strong volume metrics for the month of December, which is normally a seasonally slow period.
December retail forex volumes at FXCM came in at $323 billion, 8% higher than November 2015 but 9% lower than December 2014.
For the full year 2015, retail customer trading volume at FXCM came in at $3.9 trillion (averaging $322B per month) – 10% higher than in 2014.
Institutional volumes at FXCM have become less important since FXCM moved most institutional trading activity to FastMatch.
FXCM also updated its expectation regarding the sale of non-core assets, and the repayment of its loan with Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE:LUK). While FXCM remains positive about the ongoing sale processes, they may not be completed within the first quarter of 2016 as previously indicated.
FXCM is now targeting the repayment of its debt to Leucadia by the second quarter of 2016.
FXCM shares have risen significantly since mid December, when FXCM indicated that it is renegotiating the terms of the loan with Leucadia. As we’ve explained before, even if the loan from Leucadia is fully repaid Leucadia still retains a lot of the upside in FXCM, via a complicated formula dividing the future sale proceeds of FXCM or its assets among Leucadia and FXCM shareholders.
FXCM didn’t provide any update on the state of negotiations with Leucadia. In fact, no mention was made of them.
FXCM’s full December volumes can be seen here.