IG Group share price drops as CFO leaves to join Hargreaves Lansdown

Online trading expert IG Group Holdings Plc is facing the departure of a second senior executive officer within a month as chief financial officer Chris Hill announced on Monday he will leave in February to assume an identical role at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc.

The resignation comes only weeks after chief executive Tim Howkins said he would retire after nine years running the company and a few months after IG got hit by an unexpected decision by the Swiss National Bank to remove the francs cap against the euro. It led to a £27-million loss for the online trading platform provider and was followed by allegations by a group of clients that the company had traded in its own interest several minutes before acting on behalf of its clients during the Swiss francs sharp valuation in January. IG Group has denied the allegations.

“I will be sorry to leave such a great business, but I am excited about the opportunity presented by Hargreaves Lansdown, an established FTSE 100 company,” Mr. Hill said in a regulatory filing. “I know I will be leaving IG in robust health, with a talented leadership team and a range of initiatives which should drive growth into the future.”

Mr. Hill, who joined IGs board four years ago, will continue in his role at IG Group until the end of his notice period and leave in February 2016. He is expected in March to replace Hargreaves Lansdowns current interim CFO Simon Cleveland, who took the place after the previous finance chief, Tracey Taylor, left in December.

“We are disappointed to lose Chris, but we understand his decision,” said Andy Green, Chairman of IG. “Chris has provided great service to IG over the last four years and has played an important role as part of a leadership team that has set out a clear strategic vision for IG.”

“The Board will commence, with immediate effect, a thorough search and selection process for Chriss successor, considering both internal and external candidates,” Mr. Green added. “In the meantime, Chris will continue in his current role to ensure we have an orderly handover of responsibilities.”

The company said it is scheduled to release a trading update on September 22nd and confirmed that at this point it continues to trade in line with expectations.

IG Group Holdings Plc traded 0.69% lower at GBX 718.50 per share at 09:29 GMT in London, marking a year-on-year jump of 15.42%. The online trading company is valued at £2.65 billion. According to the Financial Times, The 6 analysts offering 12-month price targets for IG Group Holdings Plc have a median target of GBX 747.50, with a high estimate of GBX 840.00 and a low estimate of GBX 670.00. The median estimate represents a 3.32% increase from the previous close of GBX 723.50.