Turbulent markets gave Deutsche Börse a surprisingly strong start to the year. After a significant increase in profits in the first quarter, the Dax group is raising its forecast for 2022 as a whole. This is partly due to the fact that the business with financial derivatives and commodities is flourishing. Deutsche Börse AG is a German stock corporation, its core business is the development and operation of trading platforms, participant networks and settlement systems for stock exchanges. It is listed in the Dax itself. The stock rose and hit a new 52-week high.
So far, the Frankfurt market operator has been aiming for net sales of 3.8 billion euros for the current year. This mark is now to be surpassed, as the Eschborn-based company announced. The group now also wants to surpass the originally targeted 2.2 billion euros in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
“The first quarter of 2022 was overshadowed by the Russian invasion war against Ukraine,” Deutsche Börse said. Further corona waves and delivery bottlenecks would have contributed to the high level of uncertainty and volatility on the markets. “As a result, the need for trading and hedging increased in almost all asset classes, which in some cases led to significantly higher trading volumes.” In addition, Deutsche Börse benefits in two ways from rising interest rates: the securities custody subsidiary Clearstream earns more from its customers’ cash deposits. In addition, the need to hedge investments with derivatives has increased. These are among the most important sources of income for Deutsche Börse.
Against this background, the company increased its net sales by almost a quarter (24 percent) to over one billion euros in the first three months of the same period of the previous year. More than half of the revenue comes from the new “Trading & Clearing” segment, in which the group bundles trading in derivatives, shares and commodities.
The Group’s operating result climbed by almost a third (32 percent) to EUR 687.4 million. The bottom line was 421 million euros in profit in the first quarter, a third more than a year earlier. “The first quarter of 2022 was well above our expectations,” CFO Gregor Pottmeyer said in a statement. The extraordinary growth stems equally from cyclical momentum, internal strength and acquisitions. The management of Deutsche Börse, headed by CEO Theodor Weimer, has set itself the goal of achieving an annual average of ten percent growth in the years up to 2023, also with the help of takeovers – both in terms of net revenue and operating profit.