Moscow Exchange (MOEX) today announces its financial results based on summary financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Q1 2025
Unless stated otherwise, all figures below refer to performance in Q1 2025 and all comparisons are with the corresponding period last year.
KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q1 2025
- Fee and commission (F&C) income amounted to RUB 18.5 bln, driven by activity of clients and issuers as well as the launch of new products and services.
- Net interest income (NII) was RUB 10.1 bln on the back of client balances change.
- F&C share of operating income improved to 65%.
- Operating expenses came virtually flat QoQ, adding only 2.5%.
- Net profit was RUB 13.0 bln.
KEY BUSINESS & CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q1 2025
- Weekend trading session was launched on the Equities Market, providing clients the opportunity to manage their assets 7 days a week.
- Morning trading sessions on Equities, Bonds and Derivatives Markets resumed, allowing clients to trade 17 hours a day.
- MOEX started trading in futures on Asian equities.
- Four Russian-law ETFs on Russian equities, bonds, money market instruments and precious metals began trading.
- MOEX launched an index of compound return on RUSFAR, which will be another benchmark for Russian-law money market ETFs, an all-weather index tracking multiple asset classes and a family of four target-date indexes.
- The third edition of the ESG guide was introduced to help issuers integrate ESG factors into their strategies and business models.
EVENTS OCCURRING AFTER THE REPORTING PERIOD
- The Supervisory Board recommended that the AGM approve a dividend of RUB 26.11 per share, corresponding to 75% of Moscow Exchange’s 2024 IFRS net profit.
- 36.7 million clients had brokerage accounts on MOEX at the end of April. Nearly 3.8 million clients have traded MOEX markets every month since the beginning of the year.
- Finuslugi have introduced a new product line in collaboration with Alfa-Capital – three authored mutual funds, i.e. managed by well-followed investment opinion leaders.
- The range of derivative contracts expanded with the launch of two new premium options on equities and three new futures on global benchmarks: tech equities, TTF natural gas and coffee beans.
- Another seven Russian-law ETFs on Russian equities, bonds, money market instruments and precious metals began trading on MOEX.
- A new replacement bond index became available.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (RUB million)
| Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q4 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Income | 28 588.9 | 34 015.3 | 34 270.9 |
| · Fee and commission income | 18 482.1 | 14 533.5 | 18 046.8 |
| · Net interest and other finance income (NII) [1] | 10 063.3 | 19 411.6 | 16 153.0 |
| Core NII – NII less realized gains or losses on investment portfolio revaluation [2] | 10 487.3 | 19 463.0 | 16 276.5 |
| · Other operating income | 43.5 | 70.2 | 71.1 |
| Operating Expenses | 12 868.4 | 9 777.3 | 12 552.1 |
| · Personnel expenses | 6 841.9 | 5 650.9 | 6 076.1 |
| · D&A and IT maintenance | 2 350.4 | 1 631.7 | 2 431.9 |
| · Advertising and marketing costs | 1 987.5 | 973.8 | 1 830.6 |
| · Remaining general and administrative expenses | 1 688.6 | 1 520.9 | 2 213.5 |
| Profit before other operating expenses and tax | 15 720.5 | 24 238.0 | 21 718.8 |
| Movement in allowance for expected credit losses (ECLs) | 1 760.8 | 2.3 | -451.5 |
| Other impairment and provisions | 0.0 | 15.6 | -76.1 |
| Profit before tax | 17 481.3 | 24 255.9 | 21 191.2 |
| Income tax | -4 502.0 | -4 901.2 | -3 823.8 |
| Net Profit | 12 979.3 | 19 354.7 | 17 367.4 |
| Basic earnings per share, RUB | 5.72 | 8.56 | 7.67 |
| Net Profit | 12 979.3 | 19 354.7 | 17 367.4 |
| · Movements in allowance for ECLs | -1 760.8 | -2.3 | 451.5 |
| · Other impairment and provisions | 0.0 | -15.6 | 76.1 |
| · Deferred taxes related to movements in allowance for ECLs and other impairment & provisions | 440.2 | 3.6 | -105.5 |
| Adjusted Net Profit | 11 658.7 | 19 340.4 | 17 789.5 |
| EBITDA | 19 211.8 | 25 502.9 | 22 674.9 |
| · Movements in allowance for ECLs | -1 760.8 | -2.3 | 451.5 |
| · Other impairment and provisions | 0.0 | -15.6 | 76.1 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 17 451.0 | 25 485.0 | 23 202.5 |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | 61.0% | 74.9% | 67.7% |
OPEX BREAKDOWN (RUB million)
| RUB mln | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| General and Administrative Expenses | 6 026.5 | 4 126.4 | 6 476.0 |
| · Advertising and marketing costs | 1 987.5 | 973.8 | 1 830.6 |
| · Amortisation of intangible assets | 1 312.9 | 1 015.9 | 1 197.2 |
| · Equipment and intangible assets maintenance | 619.9 | 385.0 | 948.2 |
| · Depreciation of property and equipment | 417.6 | 230.8 | 286.5 |
| · Professional services | 375.9 | 177.7 | 499.0 |
| · Taxes, other than income tax | 343.1 | 383.2 | 669.1 |
| · Market makers fees | 295.8 | 196.5 | 249.7 |
| · Agent fees | 234.4 | 196.9 | 289.3 |
| · Registrar and foreign depository services | 119.5 | 137.8 | 227.8 |
| · Rent and office maintenance | 97.8 | 91.5 | 99.2 |
| · Information services | 54.0 | 172.1 | -21.4 |
| · Security expenses | 21.3 | 9.7 | 12.8 |
| · Communication services | 17.8 | 20.1 | 23.0 |
| · Business trip expenses | 11.3 | 8.8 | 22.1 |
| · Charity | 11.1 | 16.6 | 56.5 |
| · Transport expenses | 7.5 | 7.9 | 8.0 |
| · Loss on disposal of property, equipment and intangible assets | 0.2 | 3.4 | 13.3 |
| · Other | 98.9 | 98.7 | 65.1 |
| Personnel expenses | 6 841.9 | 5 650.9 | 6 076.1 |
| · Employees benefits except for share-based payments | 4 622.8 | 3 470.0 | 5 222.7 |
| · Payroll related taxes | 1 306.2 | 1 095.9 | 944.2 |
| · Share-based payment expense on cash settled instruments | 913.6 | 1 171.5 | -109.5 |
| · Share-based payment expense on equity settled instruments | -0.7 | -86.5 | 18.7 |
| Total operating expenses | 12 868.4 | 9 777.3 | 12 552.1 |
| Headcount, employees e-o-p | 3 433 | 2 687 | 3 330 |
- OPEX for 1Q’25 increased by 31.6%, largely due to the growth in personnel and marketing expenses.
- Personnel expenses grew by 21.1% due to new hires, selective wage revisions and other factors.
- The employee headcount was up 27.8% YoY and 3.1% QoQ. New YoY hires are related to strategic projects (Finuslugi, DFAs, etc.) and the overall strengthening of the IT function.
- D&A and IT maintenance grew 44.0%, while the D&A added 38.8%. IT maintenance costs increased by 61.0% due to the implementation of the software & hardware renewal program.
- The 111.5% YoY increase in professional services expense is mostly driven by the revision of third-party tariffs.
- Market makers’ fees added 50.5% as trading activity surged across markets.
PERFORMANCE OF KEY BUSINESS LINES
| RUB mln | Q1 2025 | Q1 2024 | Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equities Market | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 3 728,3 | 2 026,8 | 3 016,3 |
| Trading volumes, RUB bln | 12 305,1 | 6 610,1 | 9 833,0 |
| Bond Market | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 1 542,5 | 818,9 | 1 401,9 |
| Trading volumes (ex. overnight bonds), RUB bln | 7 751,7 | 4 675,5 | 8 309,5 |
| Money Market | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 4 445,9 | 3 281,3 | 5 336,7 |
| Trading volumes, RUB bln | 300 484,5 | 219 217,1 | 317 184,1 |
| Derivatives Market | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 2 869,7 | 1 845,8 | 2 710,5 |
| Trading volumes, RUB bln | 33 707,0 | 21 079,6 | 31 224,7 |
| Other markets | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 885,0 | n.a. | 896,8 |
| Trading volumes, RUB bln | 31 139,3 | 85 865,2 | 39 558,6 |
| Depository and Settlement Services | |||
| Fee and commission income, RUB mln | 2 523,1 | 2 602,7 | 2 576,8 |
| Average assets under custody, RUB bln | 81 886,4 | 80 328,3 | 76 126,1 |
| Other fee and commission income (IT Services, Listing, Marketplace and other) | |||
| Information services, RUB mln | 192,7 | 362,2 | 182,0 |
| Sale of software and tech. services, RUB mln | 454,1 | 429,8 | 454,5 |
| Listing and other services, RUB mln | 278,4 | 185,2 | 255,4 |
| Financial marketplace services, RUB mln | 1 313,8 | 775,1 | 967,1 |
| Other fee income, RUB mln | 248,6 | n.a. | 248,8 |
| Net interest and other finance income | |||
| Net interest and other finance income, RUB mln | 10 063,3 | 19 411,6 | 16 153,0 |
| Investment portfolio, RUB bln | 2 977,2 | 2 776,4 | 2 737,8 |
- The total market capitalization of the Equities Market at the end of the first quarter of 2025 was RUB 56.0 trln trln. Fees from the Equities Market grew by 84.0% on the back of a similar increase in trading volumes, which gained 86.2%. Over 3.9 million clients were active every month during the quarter.
- Fees and commissions from the Bond Market grew 88.4% on the back of an increase in trading volumes (excluding overnight bonds) of 65.8%, which is largely explained by the elevated secondary market activity. Primary market trading volumes (excluding overnight bonds) went up 57.9%, driven by fixed-coupon bonds. Secondary trading volumes surged by 73.5%: OFZ volumes were up 77.9%, while other bonds’ volumes increased by 69.8%.
- Money Market fee income improved by 35.5% while trading volumes added 37.1%. The increase in the share of value-added CCP repo (including GCC) in the volumes’ mix supported the effective fee, yet the decrease in average on-exchange repo terms affected negatively. These two factors virtually netted each other out. The strong accumulated position in Russian-law money market ETFs supports the GCC repo segment.
- Derivatives Market fees grew by 55.5%, while trading volumes added 59.9%. The volumes’ mix shifted towards index contracts, while shares of commodity and FX contracts declined. This change explains a slight decline of the effective fee. Specifically, index derivatives’ volumes surged nearly five-fold. The volumes of commodity derivative contracts improved by 29.1% and volumes of FX derivative contracts went up by 34.6%.
- Fee income from the Depository and Settlement Services was down 3.1%. Average value of assets under custody grew by 1.9%. The discrepancy between growth rates of fee income and assets on deposit is the result of business lines beyond safekeeping, primarily clearing and collateral management services, which reflect repo operations at the NSD. These two lines demonstrated negative performance, which was only partially compensated by the increase in safekeeping fee income.
- Information sales decreased by 46.8%. Sales of software and technical services were up by 5.7%. Listing and other services increased by 50.3% as activity on the primary bond market was strong during the quarter. Finuslugi revenues improved by 69.5%, surpassing the RUB 1 bln mark to reach RUB 1.3 bln, with deposit segment performing particularly well.
- The cash position[3] at the end of Q1 2025 was RUB 139.2 bln. The company had no debt as of the end of the quarter.
- Capex for the quarter was RUB 1.43 bln, mostly spent on purchases of software and equipment as well as software development.
Moscow Exchange’s summary consolidated IFRS financial statements for Q1 2025 are available in the Investor Relations section of the company's web site.
Read more on the Moscow Exchange: https://www.moex.com/n90388
