- YE 2013 operating profit up 34% to EUR 27 million
- CEE data hub, posttrading and index licensing contribute to diversified revenue streams
- New members elected to the Supervisory Board
The CEE Stock Exchange Group (CEESEG AG), the holding company of the stock exchanges of Vienna, Prague, Budapest and Ljubljana, reported solid earnings for the financial year 2013, as presented at its AGM on 12 June 2014. The operating profit (EBIT) for 2013 was EUR 27 million, up 34% vs. 2012 (EUR 20.2 million). This comprises a one-time-effect of EUR 4.1 million from the release of provisions. “We have again strengthened our position as the largest stock exchange group in Central and Eastern Europe. Our clear goal is to enhance harmonisation across our exchange group and thus ensure easier market access and higher quality standards. This helps to strengthen the local capital markets and attract international investors. In 2013, we achieved two milestones in this context: the introduction of a uniform trading platform and the segmentation into a prime market and standard market on all four partner stock exchanges,” stated the two Management Board members of CEESEG, Michael Buhl and Petr Koblic. In 2013, group reporting was changed to comply with IFRS, effective from 1 January 2012. As of 31st December 2013, the group’s exchanges employed 243 permanent staff members.
Strategic milestone achieved in Group harmonization
With the implementation of XETRA® in Budapest in December 2013, all four stock exchanges of CEESEG now feature a uniform trading system. This simplifies cross-border connections of trading members to other exchanges of the Group and marks the completion of a major medium-term project meant to increase liquidity on all four stock exchanges. In spring 2014 Société Generale expanded its existing trading membership in Vienna to the exchanges of Prague and Budapest, attesting to the fact that international members acknowledge the practical value of harmonisation.
Index licencing, posttrading and data vending – diversification of revenue streams
“We are constantly developing our products and services. Apart from the positive trend on the stock market, we had a good performance in data vending. This is one of the key pillars of our business model,” explained Michael Buhl.
Data vending has become the second most important source of income within the CEE Stock Exchange Group. In 2013, the Vienna data hub was further enlarged with cooperation agreements with the Kazakhstan and Montenegro Stock Exchanges. Presently, data vending customers can subscribe to the price information of ten stock markets in the CEE& CIS region as well as three energy exchanges.
In addition to the four stock exchanges, CEESEG operates three commodity exchanges and holds stakes in five clearing system- operators (CCPs) and two central securities depositories (CSDs). “Offering a state-of-the-art and efficient posttrading infrastructure is very important for our market participants. Revenues from posttrading facilities are an important part of our well diversified revenue stream”, adds Petr Koblic.
Two new indices launched in 2013 complete the range of indices CEESEG offers:.one is the ATX Global Players index, which tracks global market leaders from Austria; .the other is the KTX Local index, which includes the eight most frequently traded stocks on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, a new cooperation partner. The exchange group has successfully established itself as a global expert for indices. Worldwide, a large share of all structured products with a reference to Central and Eastern Europe are based on the indices within CEESEG. In 2013, CEESEG calculated 96 indices whereof 72 have a focus on CEE and CIS countries.
Changes on the Supervisory Board
At the AGM of CEESEG AG held today, the following resolutions on changes to the Supervisory Board were passed: Robert Ottel (voestalpine AG), Angelika Sommer-Hemetsberger (Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG) and Stefan Szyszkowitz (EVN AG) become new members of the Supervisory Board of CEESEG AG. They succeed Claus Raidl, Johannes Attems and Rudolf Gruber who retired from the Supervisory Board effective today. Willibald Cernko remains Chairman of the supervisory board; Heimo Scheuch (Wienerberger AG) takes over as his deputy from Rudolf Gruber.