XTB Q2 2026 Financial Report: How CFDs Drive 96 Percent of Brokerage Profits

XTB's Q2 2026 report, documented by Finance Magnates, confirms a gap that retail investors rarely see in the broker's marketing: while 82.9% of new EU clients' first transactions in H1 2026 were shares, ETFs and Investment Plans, CFD operations still generated roughly 96% of the group's gross result from financial instruments. The headline diversification story masks where the actual margin sits.

The acquisition-to-monetisation gap

In 2019, shares represented just 15.5% of first transactions and ETFs 3.5%, and Investment Plans did not yet exist. By H1 2026, that combined entry point had risen to 82.9%, with Investment Plans layered on top. Nominal turnover in shares and ETFs more than doubled, from $8.85 billion to $18.44 billion, and client holdings reached PLN 23.35 billion in stocks and PLN 20.02 billion in ETFs out of PLN 50.31 billion in total assets. On paper, XTB has become an investment platform. The revenue line disagrees. CFD operations delivered PLN 1.98 billion of gross result versus PLN 82.9 million from everything else — roughly 24 times the contribution of the non-leveraged book. New launches (US equity options across seven EU markets, a UK Cash ISA, Investment Plans 2.0) function as the acquisition funnel that keeps the leveraged book fed. 703,333 new clients entered through that funnel in H1, bringing active clients to nearly 1.49 million.

Where the margin actually sits

Commodity CFDs alone produced 75.3% of the total gross result, up from 33.1% a year earlier, driven by activity in gold, silver, oil and cocoa. Index CFDs added another 13.9%. This is precisely where spread markup and overnight financing accumulate in the fine print — costs that never surface as a headline commission. Operating revenue rose 79.7% to PLN 2.09 billion and net profit climbed 150.5% to PLN 1.03 billion, financed overwhelmingly by clients holding leveraged positions rather than the long-only investors entering through the ISA and Investment Plan doors. The behavioural data points the same way: about 46 million share, ETF and Investment Plan transactions in H1 2026, versus roughly 22 million a year earlier, while the CFD book quietly carried the P&L.

What to verify on your own statement

For anyone trading the leveraged side of XTB, the H1 mix is a reminder to recalculate the all-in cost, not the advertised ticket. Pull the overnight financing line on any position held past the daily close, compare the spread markup on commodity CFDs against a non-leveraged ETF or futures equivalent, and confirm whether inactivity or conversion fees apply as your activity drifts toward the investment products. A round-trip on a gold CFD that looks commission-free can still carry an embedded expense north of a comparable ETF trade once financing and spread are added. The 96% figure is the audit trail; the rest is marketing.