08.02.2019 07:30:41

Flow Traders reports strong finish to a record year 2018

FLOW TRADERS REPORTS STRONG FINISH TO RECORD YEAR 2018

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Flow Traders N.V. (Euronext: FLOW) announces its unaudited 4Q18 results: 

  • 4Q18 ETP Value Traded was up 49% Q-o-Q to €273bn. This resulted in a 31% Y-o-Y increase, compared to a 34% Y-o-Y increase in market ETP Value Traded following market developments in the US
  • 4Q18 Net Trading Income (NTI) was up 75% Q-o-Q to €74.1m, resulting in a record FY18 NTI of €383.4m
  • 4Q18 fixed costs grew 6% Q-o-Q, including a one-off US office rent charge, resulting in 7% Y-o-Y growth in fixed costs in FY18
  • FTEs grew 10.7% Y-o-Y to 436 as at the end of December 2018
  • 4Q18 EBITDA margin reached 46%, leading to a FY18 EBITDA margin of 52%
  • 4Q18 Net Profit amounted to €25.9m, resulting in a FY18 Net Profit of €160.9m, and a FY18 EPS of €3.46
  • Flow Traders' own funds requirement, under EU Capital Requirements Regulation, was €168m as at 31 December 2018, resulting in excess capital of €110m
  • Flow Traders proposes final FY18 dividend of €1.00, implying a €2.35 total dividend for FY18 and a 68% dividend pay-out ratio
  • Key growth initiatives confirm our longer-term growth strategy focus on diversification and growth of our trading infrastructure


Overview of Flow Traders' quarterly and full year consolidated results

€million, unless otherwise stated 4Q18 3Q18 Q-o-Q
Change
FY18 FY17 Y-o-Y
Change
             
Net Trading Income 74.1 42.4 75% 383.4 166.0 131%
EMEA (Europe) 44.4 27.5 62% 153.8 114.7 34%
Americas 13.8 8.1 71% 189.3 34.1 456%
APAC (Asia) 15.8 6.8 131% 40.4 17.2 134%
Fixed operating expenses 24.2 22.9 6% 90.7 84.7 7%
EBITDA 33.8 12.7 167% 199.8 56.0 257%
EBITDA Margin 46% 30%   52% 34%  
Net Profit 25.9 8.2 217% 160.9 39.6 306%
EPS (EUR) 0.56 0.18   3.46 0.85  
             
Flow Traders ETP Value Traded (€bn) 272.8 183.2 49% 899.4 685.8 31%
EMEA (Europe) 123.6 96.5 28% 473.9 418.3 13%
Americas 139.5 78.4 78% 391.0 244.6 60%
APAC (Asia) 9.7 8.3 17% 34.5 22.9 51%
             
Flow Traders' non ETP Value Traded (€bn) 807 586 38% 2,681 2,215 21%
             
Market ETP Value Traded (€bn) 8,454 4,874 73% 25,412 18,936 34%
EMEA (Europe incl MTF) 347 281 24% 1,347 1,270 6%
Americas 7,472 4,091 83% 21,800 15,726 39%
APAC (Asia) 636 502 27% 2,265 1,940 17%
APAC (ex China) 291 198 47% 998 767 30%


Current Trading and Outlook

Market activity picked up in 4Q18 after a slow summer. Geopolitical developments in the US, China and Europe resulted in more trading activity in 4Q18, especially in the US. Value Traded in the market rose substantially quarter-on-quarter, leading to even stronger year-on-year growth in Value Traded versus FY17. Growth in ETP assets under management decelerated towards the end of 2018, due to the selling pressure in markets globally. However, inflows into ETPs continued year-on-year, confirming the market long-term shift towards passive investing.

Flow Traders' recent results were supported by the disciplined execution of our growth strategy, with more venues connected, more counterparties and more products traded, while at the same time diversifying trading into areas like FX and Fixed Income. Flow Traders' performance in 2018 confirmed in turn the relevance of our growth strategy, which focus in the future will remain on diversification, while growing our presence in ETPs.

Management Board statements

Co-CEO Dennis Dijkstra stated:

"The initiatives we launched in 2017 and before, started to materialize in 2018 in the form of NTI growth. The strategic focus we presented at the beginning of 2018, combined with disciplined execution, have resulted in another record year for Flow Traders. NTI more than doubled year-on-year, as Flow Traders' presence in the overall financial markets expanded and Value Traded grew strongly. Investments made in the past years in new trading desks, new products and new venues, whilst maintaining a tight grip on our fixed cost base, have already yielded great results and puts us today in an improved market position. Those results translate in a total proposed dividend of €2.35 over 2018, or a 68% dividend pay-out ratio, as our free cash flows continue to be high and our capital position to be healthy with an unleveraged balance sheet.
This foundation allows Flow Traders to provide a competitive liquidity platform for other asset classes on top of ETPs, and complements our ambition to be the leading liquidity provider in ETPs globally. As flagged before, regulatory developments like CRR and MiFID II have contributed to the development of a level playing field and to greater transparency in the financial markets and, as such, have supported Flow Traders' growth strategy in 2018.
In 2019 and beyond, Flow Traders will further intensify its efforts to diversify into asset classes like FX, Fixed Income and into other financial products as a liquidity provider, which will in turn support our presence and growth in the global ETP ecosystem. This will materialize even more on the strong foundation of ever expanding trading relationships we have been building to date.
"

Co-CEO Sjoerd Rietberg added:

"Looking at 2018, Flow Traders increased its presence in all active markets and regions and NTI grew to a record level, helped by improved overall market conditions. Flow Traders grew the number of financial products traded, both in the ETP and non-ETP space. We connected to more trading venues, started providing liquidity in FX, traded more products on a continuous basis, became an important liquidity provider in ETPs in Asia as well as an Authorized Participant in the first crypto ETF in Switzerland and grew OTC trading in all regions. This all without any loss days in 2018.
Whilst all these achievements illustrate Flow Traders' strong growth in 2018, the modularity of our trading setup will provide Flow Traders with further leverage in a larger part of the financial markets in the future. Flow Traders wants to remain the leading liquidity provider in ETPs globally, which goes hand in hand with the ambition of becoming a one-stop shop liquidity platform for all kind of financial products.
We will further address those objectives in our first Investor Day, which will be held on 18 April 2019.
"


Preliminary Financial Calendar 1H19

28 February 2019               FY18 annual report release
26 March 2019                   Silent period start ahead of 3Q18 trading update
16 April 2019                      1Q19 trading update release (no analyst conference call)
18 April 2019                      Flow Traders Investor Day
08 May 2019                       AGM
10 May 2019                       FY18 final dividend proposed ex-dividend date
13 May 2019                       FY18 final dividend proposed record date
15 May 2019                       FY18 final dividend proposed payment date
28 June 2019                       Silent period start ahead of 1H19 results
24 July 2019                        1H19 results release


Analyst conference call and webcast

The analyst conference call on the FY18 results will be held at 10:00 am Amsterdam time on Friday 8 February 2019. The presentation will also be accessible via www.flowtraders.com/investors, where the presentation can be downloaded and the conference call can be followed via a listen-only audio webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available on the company website for at least 90 days.

Contact Details

Flow Traders N.V.
Serge Enneman / Investor Relations Officer
Phone:   +31 20 7996799
Email:     investor.relations@flowtraders.com


Important legal information

This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments.

The information and materials contained in this press release are provided 'as is' and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates ("Flow Traders") do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders.

This press release may include forward-looking statements, which are based on Flow Traders' current expectations and projections about future events, and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "believe", "could", "hope", "seek", "plan", "foresee", "aim", "objective", "potential", "goal" "strategy", "target", "continue" and similar expressions or their negatives are used to identify these forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of Flow Traders. Such factors may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as at the date at which they are made. Flow Traders expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law.

Financial objectives are internal objectives of Flow Traders to measure its operational performance and should not be read as indicating that Flow Traders is targeting such metrics for any particular fiscal year. Flow Traders' ability to achieve these financial objectives is inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Flow Traders' control, and upon assumptions with respect to future business decisions that are subject to change. As a result, Flow Traders' actual results may vary from these financial objectives, and those variations may be material.

Efficiencies are net, before tax and on a run-rate basis, i.e. taking into account the full-year impact of any measure to be undertaken before the end of the period mentioned. The expected operating efficiencies and cost savings were prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions, projections and estimates, many of which depend on factors that are beyond Flow Traders' control. These assumptions, projections and estimates are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ, perhaps materially, from those projected. Flow Traders cannot provide any assurance that these assumptions are correct and that these projections and estimates will reflect Flow Traders' actual results of operations.

By accepting this document you agree to the terms set out above. If you do not agree with the terms set out above please notify legal.amsterdam@nl.flowtraders.com immediately and delete or destroy this document.

Market Abuse Regulation

This press release contains information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.




This announcement is distributed by West Corporation on behalf of West Corporation clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Flow Traders NV via Globenewswire

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