Total revenue of $13.688 million was earned for the full year ended 31 December 2003 , representing top-line revenue growth of 33.2% from the 30 June 2002 financial year figure of $10.277 million.
Earnings growth predominately came from growth in listings, the realignment of pricing and trading revenue, which, combined, increased 26.3% to $7.70 million. Demand for market information and other services also continued to grow.
EBITDA for the 2003 year was $3.749 million representing an increase of $2.962 million, versus the 30 June 2002 full year.
New Zealand Exchange Limited - Group Result
| $000's | 12 months Dec 2003 | 6 months Dec 2002 | 12 months June 2002 |
| Total Revenue | 13,688 | 5,253 | 10,277 |
| Operating Expenses | 9,469 | 5,094 | 9,938 |
| Demutualisation Income / (Expenses) | 188 | 2,069 | (778) |
| Earnings before tax | 4,407 | 2,228 | (439) |
| Tax expense | (1,464) | (314) | (76) |
| Net earnings | 2,943 | 1,914 | (515) |
| Interest Income | 1,047 | 286 | 267 |
| Depreciation | 389 | 633 | 1,493 |
| EBITDA | 3,749 | 2,575 | 787 |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 3,561 | 506 | 1,565 |
Note: The abnormal revenue / expenditure relates to demutualization and are used in calculating the adjusted EBITDA
"We're very pleased with the preliminary results announced today and see them very much in line with NZX's change in focus over the last 18 months," said Simon Allen, NZX Chairman. "The encouraging performance of the New Zealand share market over the period has resulted in a substantial increase in our underlying core business and, along with a pricing realignment in June, has contributed to positive revenue and earnings growth."
Expenditure for the period was $9,469,000 which is $469,000 less than for the comparative 2002 period. This represents a decrease of 4.71% and is primarily due to controlling costs, the move to bring expertise in-house, and the negotiation of more favourable supply contracts.
"We have contained costs over 2003 at similar levels to 2002, while substantially increasing staff levels and expertise," said Mark Weldon, NZX CEO. "This focus on costs represents the successful implementation of a different business model and approach, including bringing many functions (for example, legal and marketing) much more in-house than were previously undertaken."
The increase in value of NZX's benchmark index, the NZSX50, reflects a strong equities market performance. Over the same period there was a substantial increase in market participation. Key annual market metrics include:
- 26% increase in NZSX50 index
- 17% increase in value traded from $17.4 billion to $20.4 billion (excluding the one-off sell down in Telecom New Zealand Ltd in September 2002)
- 10% increase in the number of trades from 0.51milion to 0.56 million
"In the first year of a dramatically changed governance and ownership structure, we've met our key objectives and delivered real value to our shareholders," said Simon Allen.
NZX will be hosting a conference call at 2:30pm today regarding these results. For details please email Neil Hammond at neil.hammond@nzx.com . They will also be posted on the NZX website at www.nzx.com/aboutus/investor/financial.
NZX will be holding its Annual Meeting in Wellington on Thursday 6 May 2004 .
