In accordance with the relevant provisions of the articles of association, profit will be distributed as follows: A cumulative preference dividend of 7% of the shares' nominal value will be payable to holders of A and B shares, i.e. E 31.76 (1998: E 31,76) per share of NLG 1,000. The remaining part of the profit will be paid to holders of profit-sharing certificates. This amounts to E 289.94 (1998: E 506,32) per profit-sharing certificate.
Income from trading in securities, which is heavily dependent on the level of transactions on Amsterdam Exchanges' stock market, rose by 16% to E 33 million in 1999. The number of securities transactions reached a record high in 1999, and the daily average number of transactions rose from 53,000 to 72,000. The upward trend has continued into the first few months of 2000.
Income from options and futures on Amsterdam Exchanges' options market in 1999 fell by 42% to E 53 million, compared with E 90 million in 1998. Average daily turnover in options and futures contracts fell from 257,000 in 1998 to 195,000 in 1999. The fee cuts introduced at the start of 1999 - the total effect of which came to E 13 million - were partly responsible for the drop in the revenues, which were significantly lower than the record set in 1998.
The growth of the number of securities transactions combined with the decline in turnover in derivative contracts resulted in net revenues from clearing, settlement and custody remaining at virtually the same level as in 1998, i.e. E 48 million.
Income from information services provided by AEX Data Services rose by 22% to E 22 million in 1999. A substantial part of this income was generated by terminal and licence fees for Mercury 2000, the real-time price information system.
Other revenues rose by 71% to E 16 million (1998: E 9 million), chiefly as a result of a capital gain on the sale of immovable property.
Total revenues from operations at Amsterdam Exchanges fell by 11% from E 200 million in 1998 to E 178 million in 1999.
In 1999 operating expenses rose by 5% to E 121 million. Higher spending on computer projects, which rose by 44% to E 29 million, was the main cause of this rise.
In addition, depreciation rose in 1999 due to major investments in business premises and trading systems in 1998.
A decline in marketing, accommodation, telecoms and consultancy expenses largely compensated for higher computer cost and depreciation charges.
Exceptional expense in 1999 rose by 29% to E 11 million. This item includes the estimated cost of expanding the external fall-back centre and improving the organisation of AEX-Information Technology.
The number of securities transactions conducted in 1999 showed a clear rise, reaching an historic high. This trend continued in the first months of 2000. Turnover on Amsterdam Exchanges' options market during the first few months of this year was also higher than in the same period in 1999.
As in previous years, the year 2000 will see more investments in technical infrastructure resulting from international developments. Costs will also be incurred for Amsterdam Exchanges' own initiatives, such as the continued computerisation of Amsterdam Exchanges' options market and the implementation of AEX ACCESS 2000, which provides direct access to our markets from anywhere in the world.
It is too early to make any concrete pronouncements on how results will develop in 2000. However, if trends in revenues continue to develop at the same rate as in the first months of the year, profits in 2000 could show a slight improvement on 1999.
