Plus500 declared $182.5 million in dividends and share buybacks today (Monday), more than the $151.9 million it earned in the first half. The London-listed broker's interim accounts showed net profit up 2% from a year earlier.The return splits into $100 million of buyback programs and $82.5 million of dividends, worth $1.2001 per share. The shares go ex-dividend on August 20 and the cash reaches holders on November 11.Shareholder returns announced in 2026 now come to $370 million, after the $187.5 million package that arrived with the 2025 results in February. Plus500 ended June with $861.3 million in cash and no debt.Only $70.6 million of Monday's total matches the policy minimum. That floor is half of net profit calculated at a 23% tax rate. The other $111.9 million is special dividends and special buybacks, paid out of the cash pile.Where the Cost Growth LandedOperating expenses rose 20% year over year to $278.5 million while revenue rose 12% to $462.9 million. That gap left EBITDA at $187.5 million, up 1%, and cut the margin to 41% from 45%, a fall of 4 percentage points. The figures are unaudited.Plus500 put the outcome down to "the Group's deliberate step-up in customer acquisition investment," the scaling of costs tied to US revenue, and the Israeli shekel. It flagged the revenue and EBITDA numbers in a July trading update, without the cost detail published on Monday.Marketing technology spending reached $80.9 million from $69.5 million, about $16 million of it an extra push to buy customers, Plus500 said. Commissions and fees, which move with US trading volumes, rose 34% to $44.6 million.Employee costs rose 27% to $94.4 million. Plus500 attributed that to the shekel strengthening roughly 20% against the dollar.Share-based pay across both expense lines came to $42.9 million, from $31.3 million, in a year that opened with £20.5 million (about $27 million) of deferred bonus shares for executives. Interest income fell to $21.1 million from $29.6 million as rates came down.Buybacks Do the Work on Earnings per ShareBasic earnings per share reached $2.17 from $2.05 a year earlier, a 6% gain against profit growth of 2%. The gap is the share count. The weighted average fell 4% to 69.9 million.Plus500 held 45,527,921 shares in treasury at June 30, about 40% of its issued share capital. It bought 1.09 million shares in the half for $63.8 million, at an average of £43.55, against 2.69 million at £29.19 a year earlier.Rivals Report a Different ShapeXTB lifted first-half revenue 79.7% and net profit 150.5%, with commodity CFDs supplying about three-quarters of its gross result on financial instruments.IG Group runs the same capital-return playbook as Plus500 and started a £125 million (about $167 million) buyback in March, its fourth in under two years, while guiding revenue growth toward the top of its range.US Unit Scales as India Deal ClosesThe non-OTC business, covering futures, prediction markets and share dealing, grew about 30% year over year and now makes up roughly 15% of group revenue, or about $70 million. Plus500 said it is on track for annualized revenue of about $140 million there in 2026."Collectively, H1 2026 marked a genuine step-change for our US business," Chief Executive David Zruia said in the statement. The unit added single stock futures after the period ended.[#highlighted-links#]Plus500 does not report the US operation as a segment. It gave no revenue figure for prediction markets, which it extended into sports contracts in June, and did not disclose the methodology behind the $140 million estimate.Plus500 closed its purchase of Mehta Equities in India in February, booking $19.0 million of goodwill and other intangibles on $21.8 million of net assets.On Monday it also announced a tie-up with Brazil's Nelogica, supplying clearing and execution to Nelogica's broker clients. That came 12 days after the Wealthsimple deal in Canada.The board expects full-year revenue and EBITDA in line with market consensus of $811.5 million and $365.1 million, compiled from Bloomberg forecasts. Plus500 had raised its outlook alongside the first-quarter figures.Those numbers leave about $348.6 million of revenue for the second half, roughly 8% below the $377.3 million Plus500 booked in the second half of 2025.This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.