Second quarter 2003 revenues totalled NOK 55.3 (56.9) million. The reduction from last year's second quarter is largely due to lower revenues from sales of financial market data. So far this year revenues total NOK 108.2 (116.5) million. This reduction is chiefly ascribable to lower revenues from sales of market data and reduced listing fee receipts from listed companies due to lower marker capitalisation and a reduction in the number of listed companies.
Oslo Børs' costs continued their positive trend. Total operating expenses were reduced from NOK 41.7 million in the second quarter of 2002 to NOK 35.8 million in the quarter under review, a decline of NOK 5.9 million. The reduction from the first quarter of 2003 was about NOK 4.6 million.
After bottoming out at the turn of the month February/March 2003, global equities markets have progressively picked up. The index has climbed substantially and trading in terms of both transaction numbers and daily volume has also risen. The increase in activity has been particularly marked in the latter half of the quarter under review.
Shares and primary capital certificates worth NOK 134 (111) billion changed hands in the second quarter. So far this year trading totals NOK 237 (240) billion. The number of transactions shows the same trend at about 536,000 (417,000) in the second quarter and about 1,000,000 (1,044,000) in the first half-year.
Activity in the business area Fixed Income Markets remained high in the second quarter. Trading in the derivatives market showed a positive trend compared with last year. The number of traded contracts totalled about 803,000 (762,000) in the second quarter compared with about 870,000 in the first quarter of 2003. Premium averaged NOK 7.7 in the first half-year compared with NOK 6.4 in the same period of 2002.
The number of terminals with access to market data from Oslo Børs dropped by about 4 % in the second quarter and by 8.5 % in the year to date.
By 30 June the Oslo Børs Benchmark Index had risen by 16.5 % since 1 January 2003. In the second quarter this index rose from 104.03 to 134.2, an increase of 29 %.
The increased market activity is expected to produce somewhat higher revenues than were expected at the end of the first quarter. However, the market outlook must continue to be regarded as uncertain.
Given its continued focus on cost-effectiveness, Oslo Børs anticipates operating expenses of just over NOK 155 million and, all told, a post-tax profit on a par with, or slightly better than, 2002.
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