SPREAD-BETTING group WorldSpreads, which was founded in Dublin but sold its Irish division in 2009, recorded an operating loss of almost €800,000 in the year ended March 31st, 2011.

This compares with a profit of €3 million a year earlier, and came despite a 28 per cent jump in revenues to €16.5 million. The loss was attributed to the cost of international expansion and investing in infrastructure and marketing.

During the financial year, WorldSpreads ramped up its marketing expenditure by 455 per cent to €3.2 million. It opened new offices in Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal, and ran an “aggressive” advertising and brand building campaign in the UK.

Chief executive Conor Foley said “we are satisfied the investment is delivering the expected returns to the business.”