Saxo Bank reports higher profits and client assets as digital transformation gathers momentum ahead of 25 year anniversary milestone
Copenhagen based multi-asset broker Saxo Bank has reported a net profit of DKK 229 million for the first six months of 2017, an increase of 45% compared to the first half of 2016.
Clients’ collateral deposits continued to rise to a record high of DKK 98.3 billion and despite low volatility the operating income for the group reached DKK 1.56 billion compared to DKK 1.46 billion in 2016.
The Group’s capital base continues to be strong and as of 30 June 2017, the Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, the Tier 1 capital ratio and the Total capital ratio for the Group were, 15.7%, 17.8% and 20%, respectively.
The highlights include:
- Operating income: DKK 1,557.6 million (DKK 1,459.1 million H1 2016)
- EBITDA: DKK 495.9 million (DKK 429.1 million H1 2016)
- Adjusted EBITDA: DKK 550.4 million (DKK 489.6 million in H1 2016)
- Profit before tax: DKK 312.2 million (DKK 216.3 million in H1 2016)
- Net profit: DKK 229.5 million (DKK 158.2 million in H1 2016)
- Clients’ collateral deposits: DKK 98,298 million (DKK 82,032 million in H1 2016)
- Total equity: DKK 4,469.9 million (DKK 4,077.8 million in H1 2016)
- Total capital ratio: 20.0% (19.5% at the end of 2016).
Kim Fournais, Saxo Bank
Commenting on the results, Kim Fournais, CEO and co-Founder of Saxo Bank, said:
The results for the first six months of 2017 are testament to our efforts to continue to invest and continuously improve our client experience and technology. In September, we will celebrate Saxo Bank’s first 25 years in business and our journey from being an early online trading pioneer to becoming the leading facilitator of global capital market access where Saxo delivers “Banking as a Service (BaaS). Saxo was a fintech long before the term was created and still to this day, we remain focused on constantly advancing our technology to ensure we are at the forefront of client focused digitisation of the financial services industry.
The results for the first half of 2017 underlines we are on the right track, but we will continue to invest in and prioritise the development of our technology and further digitisation to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the development securing a best-in-class digital journey for our clients.
In May 2017 it was announced that Geely International Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (Geely Group), made an offer for 30 per cent of the shares in Saxo Bank. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the fourth quarter of 2017.