Cash equities trading revenue reached its highest point of 2024 in Q4, with Deutsche Borse reporting €35.8 million and Euronext €70.9 million.
For the full year, the two exchanges grew in tandem with revenues in this space up 7%; Euronext to €284 million and Deutsche Borse to €134.8 million.
Total net revenue was up 15% year-on-year (YoY) at Deutsche Borse, reaching €5.8 billion at the end of 2024. This was in part due to the consolidation of SimCorp, which it acquired in the second half of 2023.
Euronext saw a slightly more subdued 10.3% increase, reporting €1.6 billion in overall revenue. Growth was driven by non-volume related businesses, the group said.
Financial derivatives revenue was up just 3% YoY both for the full year and in Q4 at Deutsche Borse, driven by interest rate activity. Rates saw 5% growth to €140.1 million in Q4 and an 8% spike for the full year to €556.4 million, the group reported. By contrast, equities remained at a static €125 million from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, and fell 2% to €552.5 million on a yearly basis. The decline was related to reduced volatility, the group said.
“The upward trend in equity markets, combined with low volatility was a constraining factor,” noted chief financial officer Gregor Pottmeyer during the firm’s Q4 results call.
At Euronext, trading revenues for derivatives were down 2% YoY to €53.1 million, which, similarly, the group said was the result of lower volatility. By contrast, clearing revenues for the category were up 221.1% to €18.1 million over the year. The overall 19% YoY growth in clearing (to €144.3 million) “reflect[s] the successful and timely execution of the last steps of the pan-Europeanisation of Euronext Clearing”, the company noted.
Last year, Euronext completed the migration of its clearing house from LCH SA to an in-house platform.
Deutsche Borse saw minor equity turnover growth in 2024, up 2% to €1.06 trillion, and a 12% dip in the number of units traded. Euronext’s turnover increased by double that of the German exchange, up 4% YoY to €2.7 trillion, and saw a less significant 4% decline in transactions.
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On the results, CEO Stephan Leithner commented: “We have benefited from strong organic growth across the entire group. We have recognized the needs of our customers and offer innovative and high-quality technological solutions – these are our clear strengths. The structural trends in our industry remain fully intact. For this reason, we expect significant organic growth again in the current financial year.”
Earlier this month, Market Structure Partners (MSP) released a controversial report arguing that European exchanges are increasing data fees to make up for poor market conditions, with both Euronext and Deutsche Borse coming under fire.
Exchanges disputed the report’s claims, and neither of the European giants were queried on the topic during their FY 2024 results calls.
READ MORE: Buy side cries price gouging, exchanges say it’s a smokescreen
At Euronext, revenues for advanced data services were up 7.5% YoY to €241.7 million in 2024, constituting 14.9% of total revenue.
“[This was] driven by continued demand for fixed-income and power trading data and dynamic retail usage. It was also supported by the contribution of [benchmark administrator service provider] Global Rate Set Systems, acquired as announced on 3 June 2024, and rapid expansion of advanced data solutions,” the group stated.
On a quarterly basis, revenues here were up 8.9% to €61.1 million. Euronext commented: “[This was] driven by a solid performance of the core data business, solid demand for analytic products and diversified datasets and from retail investors.”
