BME reported a net profit of €122.2 million for the first nine months of the year, up 16.2% year on year. This is the best net profit for the first nine months of the year since 2008. Net profit for the third quarter of the year reached €38.5 million, up 16.2% from the same period last year.

Revenue for the first nine months of the year stood at €249 million, up 10.2% from 2013 while for third quarter it rose 9.6% year-on-year to €79.5 million. The largest contributors to the revenue increase were the Equity, Settlement, Information and IT and Consulting businesses, which together accounted for 85.1% of the rise in consolidated revenue.

Operating costs for first nine months of the year stood at €74.2 million, remaining 0.3% below the figure seen in the same period last year while in the third quarter these grew by 2.5% year on year to €24.2 million.

EBITDA increased by 13.1% in the third quarter to €55.3 million, and by 15.4% in the nine months period to €174.8 million.

 The efficiency ratio was 29.8% at the end of the third quarter, up 3.1 points year on year. ROE also marked a positive performance. Since September 2013, it has increased by more than five points, from 34.7% to 40.1%. BME will distribute its second interim dividend on 23 December.

EQUITIES

In the third quarter of 2014, equity turnover totalled €196.6 billion, 24.3% higher than the same period in 2013 while in the first nine months it totalled €614 billion, up 26.6% compared to the same period the previous year. The number of trades in the third quarter was up 30.9% year on year, rising 50.8% in the first nine months of 2014.

Use of the market to raise capital continues to attract significant investment flows. The total amount of investment flows channelled into the Exchange in the first nine months of 2014 was €22.1 billion, a decrease of 13.5% compared to 2013, of which €5.8 billion corresponded to the third quarter

As for the revenues generated in the Equity business, 87.1% corresponded to trading activities and 12.9% derived from listing activities, standing at €35.4 million, up 7.7% year on year. At 30 September, the figure stood at €114.5 million, up 20% year on year, leading to a 27.6% increase in EBITDA for the period, at €85.6 million.

SETTLEMENT

Volumes registered at the end of the third quarter of 2014 were up 2.7% at €2.22 trillion. Of this figure, Equity volume registered climbed 21.9% to €751 billion. A total of 38.9 million transactions were settled in the first nine months of the year, 14.2% more than in the same period last year. In the third quarter of the year, 12.4 million transactions were settled, up 2.7% year on year.

Total unit revenue in the third quarter was 7.1% above 2013, standing at €19.7 million. EBITDA totalled €15.5 million (+3%). Both revenue and EBITDA fell in the first nine months of the year (down 1.6% and 5.8%, respectively, to €60.8 million and €48.6 million).

CLEARING

Revenue at the Clearing unit for the third quarter of 2014 amounted to €4.1 million, a 8.9% increase on the same period in 2013. Revenue for the first nine months was 14.3% higher year on year, standing at €13.1 million. Expenditure relating to work associated with project development remained higher year on year, rising 59.7% in the quarter and 35.8% in the first nine months of the year to €1.7 million and €5.5 million, respectively.

At €7.6 million, EBITDA, net of expenses, rose 2.6% in the first nine months of the year and fell 11.5% in the third quarter, for an amount of €2.4 million.

INFORMATION

The growth in customers, connections and subscriptions to information from primary sources seen since the beginning of the year is continuing. At 30 September, direct connections were up 8.8% compared to the same period in the previous year and subscriptions to the different levels of information on offer were up by 23.4%. The total number of customers connected has increased by 10% to reach a new high, reflecting the growing preference among customers to gain access to information as quickly as possible.

Revenue benefited with the increase in activity by 11% compared to the third quarter, reaching an amount of €9 million (up 11.2% between January and September). EBITDA for this unit was €7 million in the third quarter and €21.1 million in the first nine months, rising 10.8% and 11.1% year on year respectively.

DERIVATIVES

The total volume of contracts traded in the derivative product business line between January and September 2014 totalled 41.4 million, showing year-on-year growth of 8.9%. Growth stood at 3.4% in the third quarter, reaching 12 million contracts. All significant product lines experienced increases.

Revenue for the third quarter from the Derivatives business unit totalled €2.8 million, up 4% on revenue obtained for that period in 2013. Revenue to 30 September was €9.1 million, an increase of 4.4% on the year-ago period. EBITDA totalled €1.6 million in the third quarter (+51,4%) and €5.1 million for the first nine months (+18.4%).

FIXED INCOME

In the third quarter of 2014, trading in the Fixed Income business stood at €243.8 billion, down 10.4% on the same period in 2013. This figure was €1.1 trillion in the first nine months, down 2.6% compared to the same period the previous year.

Revenue in the Fixed Income business declined 3.5% in the third quarter and 3.7% in the first nine months of the year. EBITDA dropped 6.2% in the third quarter to €1.4 million and stood at €4.9 million at 30 September (-2.9%).

IT & CONSULTING

The IT and Consulting unit performed well in the third quarter of 2014. Activities managed by this unit generated revenue of €5.1 million in the quarter, a 30.8% increase compared to the same period last year, while EBITDA climbed by 60.8% to €2.5 million. Including the contribution made in the third quarter, revenue for the first nine months of the year stood at €13.7 million (+3.3%), although EBITDA dropped by 2.9% year on year to €5.7 million.