The Setup #009
Back again. One real company, no name, you crack it in the comments.
The clues:
1. Over the last year, the regulator gutted this entire industry. Trading volumes fell by a third or more, and the household names everyone uses lost customers by the hundred thousand and warned their revenue could halve.
2. This company is in that exact industry. And through the whole bloodbath, it grew its profit by nearly half.
3. How? It was never a one-trick shop. It started in 1993 as people trading their own money, and it still earns from lending, insurance, deal-making and its own trading book, not just from retail punters.
4. The number for the sharp eyed: it is growing earnings over 40% a year, and the market is paying only about 10 times earnings for it. Near the cheapest it has been in three years.
5. The catch: businesses like this look cheapest right at the top, because everyone quietly expects the profits to fall when the good times end. Cheap can be a warning.
The rules: guess in the comments. A random correct answer wins!
Reveal and winner in 24 hours. One guess each. Go