FLOW TRADERS Q122 TRADING UPDATE
FLOW TRADERS Q122 TRADING UPDATE
Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Flow Traders N.V.
(Euronext: FLOW) announces its unaudited
Q122 trading update.
Highlights
- Market ETP Value Traded increased by
41% quarter-on-quarter and by 62% vs Q121
- Flow Traders ETP Value Traded
increased by 27% quarter-on-quarter and by 26% vs Q121
- Flow Traders NTI increased to
€148.0m in Q122 reflecting a more active market environment and
strong trading performance. This compares to NTI of €80.3m in Q421
and €142.2m in Q121
- Normalized operating expenses of
€75.8m incurred in Q122. Employee expenses reflect increased
variable remuneration due to an improved operating result, impact
of strategic headcount growth and the implementation of targeted
base compensation increases. Other expenses include non-recurring
advisory costs relating to the firm’s recent corporate strategy and
group legal structure review and the implementation of a corporate
venture capital unit
- 624 FTEs as at 31 March 2022
compared to 613 FTEs as at 31 December 2021
- Normalized EBITDA in Q122 reached
€72.2m representing a margin of 49% compared to Normalized EBITDA
in Q421 of €32.6m with a margin of 41%
- Q122 Normalized net profit amounted
to €54.0m with Normalized basic EPS of €1.24
- Regulatory Own Funds Requirement
(OFR) as at 31 March 2022 was €365m, resulting in excess capital of
€175m as at 31 March 2022. Trading capital stood at €607m at the
end of the first quarter
Normalized Financial
Overview
€million |
Q122 |
Q421 |
Change |
Q122 |
Q121 |
Change |
Net trading income |
148.0 |
80.3 |
84% |
148.0 |
142.2 |
4% |
EMEA (Europe) |
108.2 |
59.8 |
81% |
108.2 |
81.4 |
33% |
Americas |
21.5 |
8.1 |
165% |
21.5 |
38.8 |
(45%) |
APAC |
18.3 |
12.4 |
48% |
18.3 |
22.1 |
(17%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net trading
income |
148.0 |
80.3 |
84% |
148.0 |
142.2 |
4% |
Normalized employee expenses1 |
52.8 |
29.3 |
80% |
52.8 |
51.3 |
3% |
Technology
expenses |
13.8 |
13.2 |
4% |
13.8 |
11.9 |
16% |
Other
expenses |
9.2 |
4.6 |
98% |
9.2 |
3.4 |
168% |
One-off
expenses |
- |
0.6 |
- |
- |
0.7 |
- |
Normalized operating
expenses |
75.8 |
47.7 |
59% |
75.8 |
67.3 |
13% |
Normalized EBITDA1 |
72.2 |
32.6 |
122% |
72.2 |
74.9 |
(4%) |
Depreciation / amortisation |
3.8 |
3.9 |
|
3.8 |
3.7 |
|
Write off of (in)
tangible assets |
0.2 |
- |
|
0.2 |
- |
|
Results of equity-accounted investments |
0.1 |
(0.5) |
|
0.1 |
- |
|
Normalized profit
before
tax |
68.2 |
29.3 |
133% |
68.2 |
71.2 |
(4%) |
Tax |
14.2 |
7.5 |
|
14.2 |
13.2 |
|
Normalized net
profit |
54.0 |
21.7 |
148% |
54.0 |
58.0 |
(7%) |
Normalized basic EPS2 (€) |
1.24 |
0.50 |
|
1.24 |
1.31 |
|
Normalized EBITDA
margin |
49% |
41% |
|
49% |
53% |
|
Value Traded Overview
€billion |
Q122 |
Q421 |
Change |
Q122 |
Q121 |
Change |
Flow Traders ETP Value Traded |
521.9 |
410.2 |
27% |
521.9 |
414.4 |
26% |
EMEA (Europe) |
238.2 |
181.5 |
31% |
238.2 |
199.4 |
19% |
Americas |
255.2 |
202.3 |
26% |
255.2 |
189.6 |
35% |
APAC ex China |
28.5 |
26.4 |
8% |
28.5 |
25.5 |
12% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Flow Traders’ non-ETP Value Traded |
1,434 |
1,231 |
16% |
1,434 |
915 |
57% |
Market ETP Value Traded4 |
15,085 |
10,666 |
41% |
15,084 |
9,313 |
62% |
EMEA (Europe) |
767 |
532 |
44% |
767 |
590 |
30% |
Americas |
13,305 |
9,103 |
46% |
13,305 |
7,780 |
71% |
APAC |
1,013 |
1,032 |
(2%) |
1,012 |
944 |
7% |
APAC ex China |
392 |
344 |
14% |
392 |
415 |
(5%) |
Regional Highlights
EMEA:
- Standout trading performance across
the region as Flow Traders maintained its position as the leading
liquidity provider in ETPs, both on- and off-exchange - #1 position
in fixed income, equity and commodity ETFs
- Further increases in Flow Traders’
market share in European single bond corporate credit across all
the major RfQ platforms. This again highlights the continued
traction of this business with counterparties
- Continued to support new crypto ETP
listings in EMEA as well furthering the development of the broader
digital asset ecosystem through participation, amongst other
strategic investments, in BloXroute’s Series B funding round.
BloXroute is the first and fastest blockchain distribution
network
AMERICAS:
- Improved trading performance
quarter-on-quarter, particularly in equity-related ETPs.
Pro-actively repositioning certain trading strategies
- Further momentum in ETF Lead Market
Maker activities- acted as Lead Market Maker in all seven debut
high yield bond ETFs from new issuer BondBloxx
- Continued strategic focus on the
fixed income business with increased volumes becoming evident on
the major platforms including TradeWeb, MarketAxess, Bloomberg, ICE
and MTS. Additional progress made in converting existing
counterparties to transact in corporate credit
APAC:
- Strong trading performance in equity
ETPs throughout the region
- Awarded Best ETF Market Maker by the
Tokyo Stock Exchange and received the Top Market Maker - ETP
Coverage award from the HKEX for Flow Traders' contribution to the
ETF market in 2021. Flow Traders is currently a market maker in
more than 200 ETPs on HKEX
- Expansion of Flow Traders’ global
ETP trading footprint by becoming an official market maker on ASX
and CBOE Australia in 55 tickers
Corporate
Venture
Capital
Unit
- During 2021, Flow Traders designed
and implemented a strategic ecosystem approach to accelerate the
execution of its strategy and as well as capturing more of the
overall value chain. This is a natural evolution given Flow
Traders’ core capabilities as well as position within the financial
markets ecosystem. The emphasis is on three key themes of
platforms, data, and connectivity across the three strategic focus
areas of equities, fixed income and digital assets
- Recent strategic activities made in
line with these key themes include ErisX, MEMX, Shape Q,
LedgerEdge, D2X, Pyth and BloXroute
- Significant work has been undertaken
during the first quarter to formalize this strategic ecosystem
approach into a dedicated corporate venture capital unit as the
pace of investments continues to accelerate. The set-up of this
unit is expected to be finalized by the end of the second
quarter
Outlook
- To maintain Flow Traders’ status as
an employer of choice and to remain competitive in the global
employment market, it has been necessary to shift the total
compensation mix of certain employee groups towards a greater fixed
component. Accordingly, targeted base compensation increases have
been implemented. These actions will ensure Flow Traders continues
to attract the talent necessary to execute its strategic growth
agenda
- The first quarter did see certain
one-off strategy related costs being incurred, which are expected
to deliver meaningful benefits going forward. In addition, COVID
business continuity plan-related expenses were reclassified into
operational expenses from the start of 2022. Nonetheless, Flow
Traders continues to be focused on cost discipline particularly
with reference to the maximum growth in fixed operating expenses of
c. 15% for this year
Management Board Comments
Dennis Dijkstra, CEO,
stated:“The successes in Q1 once again confirmed
the numerous strengths of our business. This includes our pricing
and hedging excellence, a robust risk management framework and a
truly global trading footprint. A stronger operational focus has
been required so far in 2022 but this has not been to the detriment
of progressing and driving forward our strategic growth agenda
across our three key growth areas of equities, fixed income and
digital assets. We continue to quote more products as well as
support new introductions as the trading footprint continues to
grow. Once again, we confirmed our ability to deploy into new
markets by becoming an official market maker in Australia on the
ASX and CBOE.
“Lastly, while this has been a successful quarter for Flow
Traders, we are mindful that this has been an extremely challenging
and distressing time for those affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
Accordingly, we have made an initial donation of €500,000 to the
Red Cross, UNHCR and several local initiatives nominated by
colleagues and partners. We are also proud of the individual
efforts from colleagues who directly raised more than €40,000
through various activities and conducted a successful donation
drive in the Amsterdam office. This continues our longstanding
tradition of charitable giving.”
Folkert Joling, Chief
Trading Officer,
added:“We saw a strong trading performance across
the board with all desks and regions responding to a more active
and volatile market environment. In particular, ETP flows and
volumes were focused in the European time zone during the quarter.
We continued to expand and deepen our ETP trading footprint during
the quarter as evidenced by our new market making activities in
Australia and expanded Lead Market Maker activities in the US.
Encouragingly, our market share in corporate credit single bond
market making continues to increase both in Europe and in the US as
the buyside engages further with our proposition. From a trading
and operational standpoint, we were successfully able to navigate
the various market issues that arose upon the start of the Ukraine
conflict.”
Mike Kuehnel, Chief
Financial
Officer,
added:“We have made substantial progress in the
review of our strategic roadmap with tangible ideas now ready for
the team to action. We look forward to sharing these outputs at a
capital markets day to be held in June. In parallel, we completed
an investment in BloXroute as we further intensify our strategic
ecosystem approach to drive change and innovation in global
financial markets. Our increased pace of strategic investments has
created a desire to formalise these activities within a dedicated
corporate venture capital unit that will help us to accelerate our
ecosystem strategy even further. From a cost perspective, we have
commenced the process of systematically adjusting the base
compensation for certain targeted employee groups. There were also
one-off expenses incurred this quarter relating to the recent
corporate strategy and group legal structure review.
Notwithstanding these cost dynamics, the operational leverage
within the business was still very much evident with significantly
improved margins quarter on quarter, indicating that our
operational leverage and underlying cost efficiency remain key
priorities.”
Preliminary Financial Calendar
29 April 2022
AGM3
May
2022 FY21
final dividend proposed ex-dividend date4 May
2002 FY21
final dividend proposed record date6 May
2022 FY21
final dividend proposed payment dateTBD June
2022 Capital
markets day30 June
2022 Start
silent period ahead of H122 results22 July
2022 Release
H122 results (inc. analyst conference call)16 August
2022 Proposed
FY22 interim dividend ex-dividend date17 August
2022 Proposed
FY22 interim dividend record date19 August
2022 Proposed
FY22 interim dividend payment date30 September
2022 Start silent
period ahead of Q322 trading update27 October
2022 Release
Q322 trading update (no analyst conference call)
Contact Details
Flow Traders N.V.
InvestorsJonathan BergerPhone:
+31 20
7996799Email: investor.relations@flowtraders.com
MediaLaura PeijsPhone:
+31 20
7996799Email: press@flowtraders.com
About Flow Traders
Flow Traders is a leading global financial technology-enabled
liquidity provider in financial products, historically specialized
in Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), now expanding into other asset
classes. Flow Traders ensures the provision of liquidity to support
the uninterrupted functioning of financial markets. This allows
investors to continue to buy or sell ETPs or other financial
instruments under all market circumstances. We continuously grow
our organization, ensuring that our trading desks in Europe, the
Americas and Asia can provide liquidity across all major exchanges,
globally, 24 hours a day. Founded in 2004, we continue to cultivate
the entrepreneurial, innovative and team-oriented culture that has
been with us since the beginning. Please visit www.flowtraders.com
for more information.
IFRS Financial Overview
€million |
Q122 |
Q421 |
Change |
Q122 |
Q121 |
Change |
Net trading income |
148.0 |
80.3 |
84% |
148.0 |
142.2 |
4% |
EMEA (Europe) |
108.2 |
59.8 |
81% |
108.2 |
81.4 |
33% |
Americas |
21.5 |
8.1 |
165% |
21.5 |
38.8 |
(45%) |
APAC |
18.3 |
12.4 |
48% |
18.3 |
22.1 |
(17%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Net trading
income |
148.0 |
80.3 |
84% |
148.0 |
142.2 |
4% |
Employee expenses1 |
54.9 |
37.0 |
49% |
54.9 |
47.0 |
17% |
Technology
expenses |
13.8 |
13.2 |
4% |
13.8 |
11.9 |
16% |
Other
expenses |
9.2 |
4.6 |
98% |
9.2 |
3.4 |
168% |
One-off expenses |
- |
0.6 |
- |
- |
0.7 |
- |
Total operating
expenses |
77.9 |
55.4 |
41% |
77.9 |
63.0 |
24% |
EBITDA |
70.1 |
24.9 |
182% |
70.1 |
79.3 |
(12%) |
Depreciation / amortisation |
3.8 |
3.9 |
|
3.8 |
3.7 |
|
Write off of (in)
tangible assets |
0.2 |
- |
|
0.2 |
- |
|
Results of equity-accounted investments |
0.1 |
(0.5) |
|
0.1 |
- |
|
Profit before
tax |
66.1 |
21.6 |
207% |
66.1 |
75.5 |
(13%) |
Tax |
13.7 |
5.5 |
|
13.7 |
14.0 |
|
Net profit |
52.3 |
16.0 |
227% |
52.3 |
61.6 |
(15%) |
Basic EPS2 (€) |
1.20 |
0.37 |
|
1.20 |
1.39 |
|
Fully diluted
EPS3 (€) |
1.17 |
0.35 |
|
1.17 |
1.35 |
|
EBITDA
margin |
47% |
31% |
|
47% |
56% |
|
Normalized to IFRS reconciliation
- Normalized EBITDA and margin are
based on the standard 35% profit share of operating result across
the various financial periods without any IFRS 2 adjustments for
share-based payments
- Tax based on estimated expected
effective tax rate for the relevant financial period: Q122 - 20.8%;
Q421 - 25.7%; Q121 - 18.5%
- A reconciliation of Normalized to
IFRS is presented below:
€million |
Q122 |
Q421 |
Q121 |
Normalized EBITDA |
72.2 |
32.6 |
74.9 |
Prior year share plans |
7.9 |
8.6 |
4.5 |
Current year share plan deferral |
(5.8) |
(0.9) |
(8.9) |
|
|
|
|
IFRS EBITDA |
70.1 |
24.9 |
79.3 |
€million |
Q122 |
Q421 |
Q121 |
Normalized net profit |
54.0 |
21.7 |
58.0 |
EBITDA adjustments |
2.1 |
7.7 |
(4.3) |
Tax difference |
(0.4) |
(2.0) |
0.8 |
|
|
|
|
IFRS net profit |
52.3 |
16.0 |
61.6 |
Notes
- Fixed employee
expenses: Q122 - €16.1m; Q421 - €13.5m; Q121 - €13.0m
- Weighted average shares outstanding:
Q122 - 43,514,470; Q421 - 43,177,846; Q121 - 44,348,083. 43,683,405
shares outstanding as at 31 March 2022
- Determined by adjusting the basic
EPS for the effects of all dilutive share-based payments to
employees
- Source - Flow Traders analysis
Important Legal Information
This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for
information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in
investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this
document when making any investment decisions. The information in
this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice
and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any
security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or
as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or
financial instruments. The information and materials contained in
this press release are provided ‘as is’ and Flow Traders N.V. or
any of its affiliates (“Flow Traders”) do not warrant the accuracy,
adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and
expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This
press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in
any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal
obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights,
including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All
rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or
connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part
of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written
permission of Flow Traders. This press release may include
forward-looking statements, which are based on Flow Traders’
current expectations and projections about future events, and are
not guarantees of future performance. Forward looking statements
are statements that are not historical facts, including statements
about our beliefs and expectations. Words such as “may”, “will”,
“would”, “should”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”,
“project”, “believe”, “could”, “hope”, “seek”, “plan”, “foresee”,
“aim”, “objective”, “potential”, “goal” “strategy”, “target”,
“continue” and similar expressions or their negatives are used to
identify these forward-looking statements. By their nature,
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future
whether or not outside the control of Flow Traders. Such factors
may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on any
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only
as at the date at which they are made. Flow Traders expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise
any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to
reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based
unless required to do so by applicable law. Financial objectives
are internal objectives of Flow Traders to measure its operational
performance and should not be read as indicating that Flow Traders
is targeting such metrics for any particular fiscal year. Flow
Traders’ ability to achieve these financial objectives is
inherently subject to significant business, economic and
competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are
beyond Flow Traders’ control, and upon assumptions with respect to
future business decisions that are subject to change. As a result,
Flow Traders’ actual results may vary from these financial
objectives, and those variations may be material. Efficiencies are
net, before tax and on a run-rate basis, i.e. taking into account
the full-year impact of any measure to be undertaken before the end
of the period mentioned. The expected operating efficiencies and
cost savings were prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions,
projections and estimates, many of which depend on factors that are
beyond Flow Traders’ control. These assumptions, projections and
estimates are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and
actual results may differ, perhaps materially, from those
projected. Flow Traders cannot provide any assurance that these
assumptions are correct and that these projections and estimates
will reflect Flow Traders’ actual results of operations.
By accepting this document you agree to the terms set out above.
If you do not agree with the terms set out above please notify
legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com immediately and delete or
destroy this document.
Market Abuse Regulation
This press release contains information within the meaning of
Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.
- Flow Traders - Q122 Trading Update vFINAL
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