Deutsche Börse Q4 Profit Rises

(RTTNews) - German stock exchange operator Deutsche Börse (DBOEF.PK, DBOEY.PK) on Wednesday reported an increase in fourth-quarter net earnings to €224 million or €1.21 per basic share from €124.6 million or €0.68 per share last year.

Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were higher at €0.88 per share compared with €0.74 per share in the prior year.

The company's net revenues for the quarter were €544.5 million, up from €473 million a year ago.

Growth was seen across all of the company's business segments - Eurex, Xetra, Clearstream and Market Data and Services.

Earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, for the quarter was €208.3 million compared with €189.5 million in the prior year.

Adjusted EBIT for the quarter was €237.1 million compared with €206.2 million a year ago.

Deutsche Börse said its board is proposing a stable dividend of €2.10 per share for 2014.

"The increase in revenue in 2014 is due on the one hand to the extremely strong fourth quarter, which is attributable to cyclical effects. On the other hand, we made further progress in tapping new growth areas, including Asia," said Gregor Pottmeyer, Deutsche Börse CFO.

"With this we consider ourselves in a very good position to meet our objectives until 2017 of 5 to 10 per cent net revenue growth per annum."

Pottmeyer also said the year 2015 got off to a strong start, with volumes exceeding the fourth quarter in most business areas.

Deutsche Börse expects net revenue in 2015 to grow to €2.1 to €2.3 billion, and a slight to significant increase in earnings, while anticipating higher operating costs due to consolidation and exchange rate effects.