(Adds analyst consensus in paragraph 4, results in paragraphs 5 and 7, Jefferies comments in paragraphs 6-7)

April 16 (Reuters) - Online trading platform Plus500 said on Tuesday it expects full-year results to beat market expectations, after it reported a 13% increase in new customers for the first quarter.

The Israel-based company reported a 2% rise in core profit to $102.6 million for the three months ended March 31, although core profit margins fell 2%.

Plus500 operates a trading platform for financial products including shares, exchange-traded funds, indexes, commodities and currencies across 60 markets in the UK, Europe and Asia.

Analysts on average expect a core profit of about $300 million and a margin of 44.8% this year, according to a company-compiled consensus.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased by 5% in the March quarter, with a broadly flat average user acquisition cost (AUAC).

"This quarter's growth looks solid, with ARPU, AUAC, revenue and EBITDA all going in the right direction," analysts at Jefferies said in a note.

The company said it was looking at targeting bolt-on acquisitions in selected markets, which Jefferies believes will add more to the growth story.

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Subhranshu Sahu)