Saxo Bank, a member of LeapRate’s Approved List of global FX firms, reported its financial results for the first half of 2012, and as expected they were not stellar. While Saxo Bank still managed to turn a profit of DKK 44 million (about $8 million) in the first half, it was a very tough six months for the company with revenues from FX trading down 34% as compared to the second half of 2012.
We estimate Saxo Bank’s first half volumes at about $200 billion per month, down 27% from the second half of 2012. Interestingly, Saxo Bank decided not to publicly report its trading volumes in the first half, a key data item it had begun reporting about two years ago alongside its financial reports — although Saxo Bank is not a public company, it is required to report its financials as a regulated commercial bank in Denmark. However based on the historical ratio between revenues and volumes, as well as recent trends in margins which we have seen at other firms worldwide, we estimate that Saxo Bank’s volumes in the first half averaged $200 billion per month.
Saxo Bank has done a good job managing costs and still turning a (modest) profit in a very slow market, and in our view is certainly well positioned to see a nice recovery in volumes once volatility conditions pick up. The company has been aggressively expanding geographically — acquiring in Turkey, and opening new offices in Cyprus, Australia and South Africa.
For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.