In the 2014 financial year, the European Energy Exchange (EEX) generated a new record result through significant increases in sales, particulary, on the power and gas markets. Additionally, the sales revenue of EEX Group rose by 24 percent to EUR 77.1 million (2013: EUR 62.2 million) in the 2014 financial year. The earnings before tax (EBT) rose by 39 percent to EUR 24.0 million (2013: EUR 17.3 million). Furthermore, EEX increased its annual profit by 28 percent to EUR 17.5 million (2013: EUR 13.7 million). “With this result we were able to exceed the records set in 2013 and achieve the highest annual profit ever – which forms an excellent basis for our further development“, proudly explains Iris Weidinger, Chief Financial Officer of EEX. At the end of the year, EEX Group employed 191 members of staff (2013: 161 employees), 156 of whom work at the corporate headquarters in Leipzig.
Trading on the Power Derivatives Market accounted for the biggest contribution to the sales of EEX Group. At EUR 38.0 million, EEX generated a 24 percent increase on this market (2013: EUR 30.8 million). Both the exchange volume and the Trade Registration volume rose significantly in the past year. On the German Power Derivatives Market, which is declining overall, EEX was able to further increase its market share – from 20 percent in the previous year to 25 percent today. The markets for Italy and France, in particular, contributed to the growth of the Derivatives Market. In 2014, the volume in Italian power futures was 116 TWh, which corresponds to an average market share of 16 percent. As a result of the physical connection between Italy and France, the trading volume in French power futures also increased. At 10 percent, EEX more than doubled its market share in France. In 2014, the sales revenue from clearing transactions concluded on the EPEX SPOT Power Spot Market rose by 28 percent to EUR 11.5 million (2013: EUR 9.0 million) and, as a result, reached a new record as well.
In the natural gas business segment, EEX was able to more than double its sales to EUR 8.0 million (2013: EUR 3.0 million). The trading volume on the PEGAS platform, which has been operated by Powernext within EEX Group since January 2015, almost doubled on the Spot Market in 2014 (290 TWh), while the volume on the Derivatives Market almost quadrupled during the same period (278 TWh).
In the emission allowances business segment, the sales revenue was EUR 1.3 million (2013: EUR 1.6 million). While a decline in volumes was recorded on the primary market due to the political decision to withhold emission allowances from the market and to bring them back to the market in a later issue period in the context of the so-called “back-loading”, EEX slightly increased its volumes on the secondary spot market by 6 percent.
In 2014, the sales revenue from the clearing cooperations of the European Commodity Clearing (ECC) amounted to EUR 4.8 million (2013: EUR 5.5 million). This slight decline is due to the termination of the clearing cooperation with APX/Endex in October 2013, which contributed EUR 2.9 million to the sales revenue in 2013. The revenue from the cooperation with existing partner exchanges developed extremely positively increasing by 80 percent (2013: EUR 2.6 million). In the course of 2014, ECC expanded its network with new partners: In October, it launched clearing for the Danish Gaspoint Nordic gas exchange and acquired a new partner exchange as a result.
At EUR 1.5 million, the sales generated within the Transparency/Info Products business field were at the same level as in the previous year (2013: EUR 1.4 million). This included both the operation of the “Transparency in Energy Markets” transparency platform and marketing of the trading and fundamental data of EEX.
In 2014, Cleartrade Exchange (CLTX), which has been a member of EEX Group since January 2014, generated sales revenue of EUR 1.8 million.
“We have already launched a number of measures to further strengthen EEX Group this year”, explains Peter Reitz, Chief Executive Officer of EEX. “With the integration of Gaspoint Nordic, EPEX SPOT and Powernext into the Group, we expand our offering to further markets. In addition, APX will be integrated into EPEX SPOT with effect from 4 May 2015 and, as a result, it will become part of EEX Group. We will also offer our customers completely new fields of business for example with the introduction of agricultural products mid-May. We will continue our diversification strategy towards becoming a global commodity exchange in 2015.”
