In the light of the falling level of activity within the financial sector all over the world the Exchange reduces its expectations for the profit for the year after tax to DKK 50-60 million, corresponding to a downward adjustment of DKK 5 million compared with the DKK 55-65 million forecasted in the annual report for 2002.
In the 1st quarter of 2003, bond trading saw a positive development with a rise of 44 per cent on the corresponding period in 2002, however, the value of trading in listed shares and investment funds fell by 22 per cent.
President and CEO Hans-Ole Jochumsen said: "Even though we have to reduce our expectations for 2003, it is worth noticing that the Copenhagen Stock Exchange is one of the best performing European exchanges in terms of financial highlights. This is attributable to the positive development in bond trading and the fact that prices on the Danish equity market have not fallen as much as on most of the other markets that we compare ourselves to. I also look forward to seeing interest in the MidCap+ and SmallCap+ shares continue to grow after the flying start in April, when we launched the new division of the equity market."
Despite the lack of optimism within the financial sector the Danish equity market is still an interesting market for several major international players. Thus, in February, the Copenhagen Stock Exchange was able to welcome the finance house Merrill Lynch as a new member, and in April Deutsche Bank followed. The number of remote members now totals 18 out of 47 member firms on the equity market.
Click here to read the Copenhagen Stock Exchange's interim report for the 1st quarter of 2003.
