.jpg)
The MTS Group is pleased to announce continued strong growth for the first quarter of 2007, including record volumes for its Repo and BondVision markets. In addition, the initial months of 2007 witnessed a further expansion of exchange-traded-funds (ETFs), as well as an increase in cash volumes and significant performance improvements as a result of new technology.
Turnover on the MTS Repo Market rose to a record €4.69 trillion in the first quarter, a 36% year-on-year increase. Of the total, volume in Italian repos rose 30%, while turnover for European repo (excluding Italy) increased more than 200%, reflecting the ongoing diversification of MTS’s repo business. Term business on the platform also increased with the daily outstanding balance of European repo transactions exceeding €180 billion for the first time in March and a new daily record of €315 billion recently achieved on a term-adjusted basis, reflecting a strong start to the second quarter.
Meanwhile, BondVision, MTS’s B2C market, saw quarterly volumes increase to a record €182 billion, up 28% from the fourth quarter. In addition, B2B cash market volumes grew to €744 billion in the first quarter, up 13% from the previous quarter. Cash volumes were particularly strong in Greece and France, which saw respective increases of 69% and 24%.
The increased turnover came amidst the backdrop of optimisations that have allowed trading on the Cash Market Facility to reach peak performance levels of about 3,500 transactions per second and cut average response times by 90%, compared to the legacy technology, to an average of ten milliseconds. These performance records have been achieved with CMF central system resources running at a fraction of their overall capacity.
Separately, assets under management for ETFs tracking the EuroMTS Indices increased 10% in the first quarter to €3.3 billion, up from €3.0 billion at the end of 2006. Trading volumes in the Lyxor bond ETFs increased 42% in the first quarter to a total trading volume of €2.17 billion. Further, Lyxor launched two new ETFs in January based on the EuroMTS 5-7 and EuroMTS 7-10 maturity bands, completing the range (1-3, 3-5, 5-7, 7-10, 10-15, and an aggregate ETF) of ETFs tracking the EuroMTS Indices and thus providing easy access to a portfolio of bonds encompassing the entire eurozone government bond yield curve.
“The MTS markets extended last year’s strong performance with additional growth in the first quarter of 2007,” said Gianluca Garbi, Chairman of the Management Board of MTS S.p.A. and C.E.O. of EuroMTS Limited. “Particularly encouraging are the growth of the European repo markets beyond Italy, BondVision’s continued record growth, the increase in cash market volumes, especially given that it is a mature business, and the performance improvements achieved through enhanced technology. Also, with regard to Lyxor’s ETFs, we are pleased to see the continued expansion of these products as it confirms the market’s recognition of the value provided by the underlying EuroMTS Indices.”
Background
1. MTS European Repo Market
 |
2. MTS Group
The group of MTS companies collectively comprises Europe’s premier electronic market in fixed income securities with daily volumes exceeding €110 billion. The MTS model utilizes a common trading platform, although regulatory responsibility remains under the jurisdiction of the relevant domestic authorities.
The group of companies include the following wholesale markets: EuroMTS, EuroCredit MTS, NewEuroMTS, EuroGlobalMTS, MTS Quasi-Government Market, Eurobenchmark Treasury Bills Market, EuroMTS Linkers Market, MTS Cedulas Market, MTS Amsterdam, MTS Austrian Market, MTS Belgium, MTS Denmark, MTS Deutschland, MTS España, MTS Finland, MTS France, MTS Greek Market, MTS Ireland, MTS Israel, MTS S.p.A. (MTS Italy), MTS Poland, MTS Portugal and MTS Slovenia.
The group also includes BondVision, the Internet-based multi-dealer-to-client platform and MTSNext, the company that manages the EuroMTS Indices, the first range of independent, transparent, real-time and tradable eurozone fixed income indices. Tradable products on the MTS markets comprise Austrian, Belgian, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Cypriot, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Israeli, Italian, Lithuanian, Mexican, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovakian, Slovenian, South African, Spanish, Turkish and Venezuelan government bonds; quasi government bonds such as EIB, KfW, Freddie Mac and CADES; Pfandbriefe, Obligations Foncières, Cédulas, Irish ACS; Dutch, Italian, UK and US covered bonds.
