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- The net profit improves from the two preceding quarters by +8.6% (4Q12) and +6.3% (3Q12) but is down 7.1% from the first quarter 2012
- Revenue for the first quarter stood at €73 million, down 5.6% on the same period in 2012
- Investment flows channelled through the exchange reached €7.9 billion in the first quarter of 2013, up 15.3% from the same period a year earlier
- EBITDA decreased by 8.5% to €47.9 million
- The efficiency ratio is 34.5%, more than 12 points above the average for the sector
- Return on Equity (ROE) was 31%, over 17 points above the sector average
BME reported net profit of €33 million in the first quarter of 2013, down 7.1% year-on-year, while it was 8.6% higher than the figure for the fourth quarter 2012. Revenue for the period reached €73 million, down 5.6% on the first quarter of 2012.
Operating costs for the first quarter came in at €25.2 million, up 0.3% from the same period in 2012. EBITDA was down 8.5% at €47.9 million.
The efficiency ratio for the first quarter is 34.5% vs 32.4 for the same period last year, over 12 points over the sector average. Return on Equity (ROE) in the same period was 31%, over 17 points above the sector’s average.
EQUITIES
Revenue for the Equity business at quarter-end 2013 amounted to €27.9 million, down 7.5% from the same period in 2012, while EBITDA fell 9.3% year-on-year to €19.9 million.
Following the end of the short-selling ban imposed by the CNMV, the liquidity on the order books, the implicit transaction costs and trading activity are gradually picking up. In the first quarter of 2013 the number of trades has increased 43.1% from the previous quarter’s while stripping out block trades, trading volume increased 33.6%. The transaction costs for investors, measured by bid/ask spreads, decreased by three basis points from the previous quarter average and at the end of March returned to the levels reached before the short-selling ban.
In the first quarter of 2013, trading in equities totalled €162.3 billion, formalised through 10.2 million trades.
SETTLEMENT
In the first quarter the Clearing and Settlement unit reported revenue of €18.6 million, down 4.7% from the same period a year earlier. EBITDA was €15.2 million for the first quarter of 2013, a decrease of 5.2% year-on-year.
At 31 March 2013, 10.4 million trades were settled, down 9.6% from the first quarter of 2012. The daily average amount settled came in at €253.1 billion, down 11.9% from the average amounts settled in the same period in 2012.
LISTING
Revenue for the Listing unit over the first quarter of 2013 decreased 17.3% year on year to €5 million. EBITDA stood at €2.7 million, down 27.8% on the same quarter in 2012.
During the first quarter, the upward trend of access to the market as a source of financing and recapitalisation of companies has been maintained. Financing to listed companies provided by the market through capital increases and scrip dividends increased 15.3% to €7.9 billion. It is worth mentioning the recourse to scrip dividends, through which €2.6 billion were channeled to the market, up 74.8% from the first quarter in 2012.
MARKET DATA
During the first three months of 2013, the Information unit posted revenue of €8.1 million (-8.6%). EBITDA stood at €6.2 million, down 11.2% from the first quarter in 2012.
The trend followed in the previous quarter in the area of primary information sources has continued. The number of new connections has stabilized and the total number of end-users of BME’s primary sources of information decreased 12.1% from the first quarter of 2012.
DERIVATIVES
Total contracts traded within the Derivatives business in the first quarter of 2013 came in 24.9% lower than in the first quarter of 2012, with heavier activity in index-linked products and lower activity in products linked to single stocks.
In line with reported trading volumes, the unit posted revenue of €6.8 million for the first quarter, up 24.8% on the same period for 2012, while EBITDA amounted to €3.9 million, up 52.8% year on year.
FIXED INCOME
Over the first quarter of 2013, the total trading in Private Fixed Income stood at €407.2 billion, down 46% from the same period in 2012.
Lower activity levels in both Public and Private Fixed Income have been reflected in the unit’s results. Revenue in the first quarter amounted to €2.1 million, representing a 28.5% decrease on the same period of 2012. EBITDA was €1.3 million in the first quarter, down 39.1% year on year.
IT & CONSULTING
Revenue in the IT and Consulting unit was up 8% from the same period in 2012, at €4.4 million. EBITDA came in at €2 million, a 33.4% increase on the first quarter of 2012.
The main drivers of activity in the first quarter concerned the trading support segment, financial reporting services (Highway), the international consulting area and regulatory support services.
