Deutsche Brse AG ended the year 2003 with record results – again. Preliminary figures, released by the company on Thursday, show that sales including net interest income from banking business rose 29 percent from 1.17 billion euros in 2002 to 1.51 billion euros in 2003. The company’s EBIT increased 29 percent from 351.2 million euros in 2002 to 452.6 million euros in 2003. Net profits rose 5 percent from 235.1 million euros in 2002 to 246.3 million euros to 2003. The earnings per share rose from 2.18 euros to 2.20 euros.
Deutsche Brse’s Chief Financial Officer Mathias Hlubek said: “The year 2003 was another successful year for Deutsche Brse: We have started growth initiatives such as Eurex US, completed the integration of Clearstream, thus completing the value chain and at the same time have reached a record result.” According to Hlubek, the Executive Board of Deutsche Brse will propose to the Supervisory Board that the dividend per share be raised 25 percent to 0.55 euros.
For the fourth quarter of 2003, Deutsche Brse shows sales including net interest income of 375.7 million euros as opposed to 372.4 million euros in Q4/ 2002. The company’s EBIT rose from 95.9 million euros in Q4/ 2002 to 102.1 million euros in Q4/ 2003. Deutsche Brse recorded net profits for the quarter of 50.8 million euros (Q4/2002: 72.3 million euros).
The segmental reporting shows that Clearstream was the strongest segment in the year 2003: Clearstream boosted sales revenue from 227.0 million euros to 543.7 million euros. (The apparent surge in revenues is of course attributable to the fact that Deutsche Borse took full ownership of Clearstream in 2003, having owned only 50 per cent of it in 2002.) Eurex contributed 409.6 million euros, as opposed to 331.6 million euros in 2002. The Xetra segment reported sales of 213.3 million euros compared with 210.8 million euros in 2002. Information Technology contributed 131.9 million euros compared with 165.6 million euros in 2002. Sales figures in Information Services were steady at 121.9 million euros (2002: 121.5 million euros).