CLS Group, the specialist US financial institution that provides settlement services to its members in the Forex market has released it 2014 annual report following it’s annual meeting and shareholder briefing on Tuesday, April 21st.
2014 Financial Highlights
- CLS posted revenues of GBP183.3 million, an increase of 6% year-on-year from GBP172.9 million in 2013.
- Total operating expenses were up by 1.6% (GBP2.4 million), mainly due to an expected increase in amortization of GBP4.0 million, following the implementation of major components of our technology program
- Profit after tax increased by over 36% year-on-year from GBP14.6 million to GBP19.8 million, a direct consequence of the revenue growth with only modest cost increases.
2014 Operational Highlights
- Daily average volumes in the core service remained stable year-on-year at 801,000 instructions
- Average daily settlement values for 2014 now stand at USD5.1 trillion, up slightly from 2013
- CLS’s 2014 peak value day was in December at USD10.7 trillion, surpassing the previous record from March 2008, achieved on volumes of 2.1 million
- CLS continues to operate a reliable and resilient service meeting the high standards of governance and risk expected of a systemically important financial market utility
2014 was a year of contrasts in the foreign exchange market. We saw prolonged low volatility and declining volumes, followed by increased activity in line with the rising dollar. While this had a direct impact on FX volumes settled through CLS, we have continued to deliver every day, while strengthening our service and global reach.
Our results demonstrate our financial health, capital strength and operational integrity. We are well placed to deliver our core service while exploring new opportunities to add value for our settlement members and shareholders, through increased participation, additional currencies or new services which leverage our current infrastructure and position in the market.
Other 2014 Highlights
- In March, CLS opened a new office in Hong Kong.
- In June, CLS was successful in U.S. Supreme Court with the Alice Corporation litigation, and a another new CLS office opened in Metropark, New Jersey.
Looking ahead the group will implement the final phases of it’s multi-year Strategic Architecture (STAR) technology upgrade program. STAR has already proved its value by processing record volumes with zero latency. Also, CLS in partnership with TriOptima added a new risk management product for it’s FX forward compression service. Lastly, the group expects to launch a cross currency swap service in Q3 of 2015.
David Puth Chief Executive Officer CLS Group Holdings AG stated: “Having made good progress on our strategic initiatives last year, we expect to provide several new services in the coming years. Our FX forward compression service is taking shape following the announcement of our collaboration with TriOptima. We expect to launch our cross currency swap service in Q3 of 2015. Lastly, we continue to work with the CCP community to bring our risk mitigation services to a new set of clients.”
Healthy growth at CLS Group is all in the numbers as you can see above in a 5 year summary chart. The 2014 annual report comes off as bullish for the group as they look to continue these trends.
The full detailed report is available via a downloadable PDF.