The economic downturn has created plenty of losers, but among a select group of winners is Tim Howkins, chief executive of financial spreadbetting firm IG Group.
The company surprised the markets by saying that first-half revenue is likely to rise by 23%, as trading volumes have been lifted by increasingly volatile financial markets.
The statement drove the company's shares up by more than 7% to 466.5p and represents the continuation of a trend that has seen the stock rise by around 32% since the beginning of the credit crunch in September 2008 and by about 18% since August. The run makes Howkins 1% stake worth more than £18m, a figure buoyed after the chief executive exercised £425,000 worth of extra share options earlier this month.
The former accountant used to audit IG Group's accounts before becoming its finance director in 1999. Seven years later he was promoted to the top job.
IG allows punters to bet on rising or falling financial markets and was founded by Conservative Party donor Stuart Wheeler in 1974, but initially only took bets on the price of gold. It now has markets on more than 30 indices as well as more than 7,000 individual stocks, the major commodities and foreign exchange.
In a statement the company said: "Following on from a strong first quarter, the group has continued to experience high levels of client activity during the second quarter of its financial year".
The company expects first-half revenues of more than £193m, adding costs had been in line with management expectations.
Paul Leyland, an analyst at Investec, said: "While we recognise continued volatility is likely to be a key driver, we also believe IG is growing its active customer base in the UK and internationally. This would suggest the upgrade momentum is more structural than is currently being appreciated by the market, in our view".
IG Group issued a profit warning in January after weak trading volumes at the end of 2010. It has since recovered as traders have flocked back, with clients looking to bet on large swings in financial markets caused by uncertainty surrounding the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.