Strong performance driven by growth in non-volume related business and in trading activities, cost control and integration of the Borsa Italiana Group. 2022 cost guidance upgraded.

We are publishing our results for the first quarter of 2022, a record quarter in terms of revenue. We delivered a strong performance driven by growth in non-volume related business and in trading activities, continued cost control & the integration of the @BorsaItalianaIT Group pic.twitter.com/T16VWzMLFA

— Euronext (@euronext) May 17, 2022

Euronext, the leading pan-European market infrastructure, publishes its results for the first quarter 2022.

• Q1 2022 revenue and income up +6.0% pro forma[1] to €395.7 million (+58.8% reported, +€146.6 million) driven by non-volume related and trading activities growth:
  • Non-volume related revenue accounted for 55% of Q1 2022 total revenue (vs. 58% pro forma in Q1 2021) and covered 151% of underlying operating expenses, excluding D&A (vs. 147% pro forma in Q1 2021).
  • Contribution of the Borsa Italiana Group was €129.4 million.
  • Trading revenue grew to €150.8 million (+9.9% pro forma, +57.2% reported), resulting from strong trading activities across all asset classes with cash trading revenue at €94.0 million and fixed income trading revenue at €24.4 million.
  • Post-trade revenue grew to €95.8 million (+3.1% pro forma, +51.7% reported), due to continued strong activity. Clearing revenue increased to €31.9 million (+11.2% pro forma, +87.2% reported) as a result of a highly volatile environment and net treasury income of Euronext Clearing was €13.4 million. Custody and Settlement revenue were €63.9 million (stable pro forma, +38.6% reported) driven organically by an increased number of accounts in Euronext Securities Oslo and Euronext Securities Copenhagen.
  • Advanced Data Services revenue grew to €52.6 million (+3.4% pro forma, +43.9% reported) due to a solid core data business performance.
  • Euronext remained the leading venue for equity and ETF listing in Europe and for debt listing worldwide. Listing revenue grew to €55.4 million (+12.4% pro forma, +42.9% reported), resulting from resilient listing activity with 22 new listings.
• Adjusted EBITDA[2] up +11.4% pro forma to €252.2 million (+66.8% reported, +€101.0 million) thanks to continued costs discipline and successful ongoing integration. Adjusted EBITDA margin at 63.7% (+3.1pts):
  • Underlying operating expenses, excluding D&A, were €143.6 million (-2.2% pro forma, +46.5% reported), down organically thanks to continued cost discipline and delivery of planned synergies.
• Reported net income, share of the parent company shareholders, up +10.9% pro forma (+46.5% reported) to €143.8 million (+45.6 million):
  • Net financing expenses were at €9.9 million and results from equity investments amounted to €3.1 million. Income tax rate was 26.1%.
• Adjusted EPS[3] up +7.3% to €1.54[4], based on 106,576,290 shares in Q1 2022.
• Key figures

In €m, unless stated otherwise	Q1 2022	Q1 2021	% var	% var l-f-l[5]	% var pro forma
Revenue and income	395.7	249.2	+58.8%	+6.9%	+6.0%
Underlying operational expenses excluding D&A	(143.6)	(98.0)	+46.5%	-1.1%	-2.2%
Adjusted EBITDA	252.2	151.2	+66.8%	+12.0%	+11.4%
Adjusted EBITDA margin	63.7%	60.7%	+3.1pts	+2.9pts	+3.1pts
Net income, share of the parent company shareholders	143.8	98.2	+46.5%		+10.9%
Adjusted Net income, share of the parent company shareholders	164.4	109.4	+50.3%
Adjusted EPS (basic, in€)	1.54	1.44	+7.3%
Reported EPS (basic, in€)	1.35	1.29	+4.6%
Adjusted EPS (diluted, in€)	1.54	1.43	+7.4%
Reported EPS (diluted, in€)	1.35	1.29	+4.7%

• Net debt to reported EBITDA[6] at 2.3x at the end of March 2022, Euronext outlook revised to ‘Positive’ from ‘Neutral’ by S&P and ‘BBB’ rating affirmed.
• Progress on the pillars of the “Fit for 1.5°” commitment with the launch of the AEX^® ESG index in the Netherlands and the OBX^® ESG index in Norway, new sustainability-linked bonds and the publication of the “Euronext Guide for ESG reporting – Target 1.5°C”.
• Continued progress on the delivery of targeted synergies, in relation to the Borsa Italiana Group acquisition:
  • €15.2 million cumulated run-rate annual synergies achieved at the end of Q1 2022.
  • €31.4 million of cumulated implementation costs incurred at the end of Q1 2022.
• Confirmation of the delivery of a key milestone on the integration of the Borsa Italiana Group with the go-live of Euronext new Core Data Centre on 6 June 2022^[7], unlocking the first business development synergies. Successful roll-out of the client installation at Euronext’s new Core Data Centre in Bergamo, Italy. Connectivity tests with clients confirmed that Euronext is on track to go live with the migration as planned.
• Upgrade of the 2022 underlying cost guidance and of 2024 cumulated implementation costs, thanks to continued cost discipline and efficient integration:
  • €612 million underlying costs are expected in 2022 (-€10 million vs. €622 million from February 2022 guidance[8]).
  • €150 million of cumulated implementation costs are expected by 2024 (-€10 million vs. €160 million from November 2021 guidance[9]).

Stéphane Boujnah, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext, said:

“During this first quarter of 2022, which was marked in Europe by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Euronext’s business model remained resilient. Euronext delivered double-digit adjusted EBITDA pro forma growth at +11.4%, thanks to growth in trading and non-trading activities, combined with continued cost discipline and synergies related to the Borsa Italiana Group acquisition.

Including the consolidation of the Borsa Italiana Group, Euronext delivered more than 50% growth year on year in reported revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income.

As a partner of choice and trust for European issuers, we welcomed 22 new listings over the first quarter of 2022 and confirmed Euronext’s position as the leading listing venue in Europe. We continued to deploy our ESG products suite to drive investment towards sustainable projects and we made significant progress on building our Fit for 1.5° ESG targets that will be announced in June.

We remained committed to pursuing successful integration while maintaining our continued cost discipline. By the end of March 2022, we had reached €15.2 million of cumulated run-rate synergies in relation to the acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Group. We are on track for the migration to our new green Core Data Centre in Bergamo in June 2022, which will be the first key milestone generating business synergies of the strategic plan.

This continued cost discipline and successful ongoing integration lead us to upgrade our cost guidance by €10 million reducing 2022 expected underlying costs to €612 million, and additionally to decrease the amount of 2024 cumulated implementation costs by €10 million, to €150 million.

Our strong cash generation capabilities enabled us to significantly deleverage following the acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Group, as recently recognized by S&P. Our leverage position now enables additional strategic flexibility to deliver value to our shareholders.”

Source: Euronext