Deutsche Börse AG achieves best quarterly results since 2008

Deutsche Börse AG published its figures for the first quarter of 2011 on Thursday. Sales revenue rose by 8 percent year-on-year to €558.6 million due to the positive business development in all segments. At the same time, the Group again reduced its total costs. At €271.3 million, expenses were down 9 percent on the prior-year period. Earnings per share increased 36 percent to €1.14 (Q1/2010: €0.84 per share).

In addition, the Company announced that it was accelerating the efficiency measures that have been running since 2010. The full cost effects of €150 million per year will now be reached from 2012 onwards, instead of 2013 as originally planned. For 2011, the Group is expecting savings of €115 million instead of the budgeted figure of €85 million. Thanks to its strict cost discipline in the first quarter and the accelerated implementation of its efficiency measures, Deutsche Börse is cutting its operating cost guidance for 2011 by €35 million to €890 million.

Gregor Pottmeyer, Deutsche Börse AG’s CFO and Executive Board member for Human Resources: “Our progress since we announced our efficiency measures in the first quarter of 2010 has exceeded expectations, thanks among other things to our highly successful Voluntary Leaver Program. This will enable us to achieve the €150 million in annual cost savings a year ahead of schedule. Thanks to our strict cost discipline in the first quarter and the accelerated implementation of our efficiency measures, we are reducing our guidance for operating costs in 2011 by 4 percent to €890 million.”


Results for Q1/2011

Sales revenue for Deutsche Börse Group in the first quarter of 2011 amounted to €558.6 million. This corresponds to a rise of 8 percent against the first quarter of 2010 (Q1/2010: €519.2 million). The increase in sales revenue is due both to the fundamental improvement in the Group’s business activities and to higher market volatility. In addition to sales revenue, the Group generated net interest income from banking business of €16.1 million, up 46 percent year-on-year (Q1/2010: €11.0 million). The increase is due to the slight rise in short-term interest rates and substantially higher overnight customer deposits year-on-year. Other operating income in the first quarter of 2011 amounted to €8.3 million as opposed to €12.5 million in the prior-year quarter.

At €273.1 million, total costs were down 9 percent year-on-year (Q1/2010: €298.8 million). The decrease was due to a reduction in costs, thanks to the results of the efficiency programme that have already been achieved, to a decline in depreciation and amortisation expense, and to lower costs for the ongoing implementation of the efficiency measures. Total costs in the first quarter comprise costs for efficiency programs of €3.4 million (Q1/2010: €27.8 million) and costs of €10.2 million in relation to the planned business combination with NYSE Euronext. Volume-related costs amounted to €56.7 million in the reporting period and operating costs to €214.6 million.

At €4.6 million, the result from equity investments was up substantially year-on-year (Q1/2011: €1.7 million). It is generated primarily by Scoach Holding S.A., Direct Edge Holdings, LLC and European Energy Exchange AG. As a result, Deutsche Börse Group generated earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of €316.3 million, up 29 percent on the first quarter of 2010 (Q1/2010: €245.6 million).

The financial result for the first quarter of 2011 of €–19.8 million relates in particular to interest payments in connection with long-term financing. The interest coverage ratio in the first quarter stood at 19.4. The effective Group tax rate in the first quarter of 2011 was 26.0 percent (Q1/2010: 27.0 percent). The improvement in the Group tax rate in comparison to the prior-year quarter reflects the relocation of a large majority of Deutsche Börse’s employees to Eschborn, which was completed in the second half of 2010. Non-controlling interests in net income for the period – the item indicating the share of profit or loss of subsidiaries attributable to minority shareholders – amounted to €–6.6 million for the quarter (Q1/2010: €–5.7 million).

Consolidated net income for the first quarter of 2011 rose by 36 percent to €212.8 million, up from €156.9 million in the first quarter of 2010. Basic earnings per share, based on a weighted average of 186.0 million shares outstanding, rose by 36 percent to €1.14 in the first quarter of 2011 (Q1/2010: €0.84 for an average of 185.9 million shares outstanding).