Deutsche Boerse achieved its best quarter ever in the first three months of financial year 2008. At €644.5 million, sales revenues were up by 19% on Q1/2007 (€543.1 million) reflecting record trading volumes and the full consolidation of the International Securities Exchange (ISE). A further €64.3 million was generated from net interest income from banking business (Q1/2007:€46.1 million).
Total costs in the first quarter amounted to €316.1 million (Q1/2007: €313.3 million), including some €10 million in depreciation of intangible assets related to ISE. EBITA rose to a new record of €425.8 million in the first quarter (Q1/2007: €300.3 million), up by 42%. The net financial result of the Group in the first quarter was positively impacted by a non-realized currency gain of some €25 million related to the ISE financing.
Earnings per share for the average of 192.1 million shares in the first quarter rose 61% to €1.58 (Q1/2007: €0.98 for 195.3 million shares). Deutsche Boerse’s CFO Thomas Eichelmann speaks optimistically about the strong start to the year, “Strong trading activity on Deutsche Boerse’s cash and derivatives markets as well as strong performance figures at Clearstream enabled us to achieve the best quarter ever. These excellent results provide further proof of the earnings power of our business model. Based on the strong performance in the first quarter, structural growth drivers across our business portfolio, increased volatility on the global markets and tight cost management we are on track for continued earnings growth in 2008.”