Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Tuesday, April 27 2021 - 19:07
AsiaNet
Euroclear Business and Financial Update – Q1 2021
BRUSSELS, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

    Business Income growth up 12%, offsetting reduction of Interest Income

    - Business Income rose 12% to EUR 358 million driven by strategic progress, 
sustained settlement activity, higher equity valuations and new issuance by 
governments and corporations 
    - Banking and Other Income decreased 61% to EUR 24 million as expected, 
given the lower interest rate environment compared to Q1 2020 
    - Resulting total Q1 revenues of EUR 382 million were flat year-on-year, 
despite the reduction of interest-related income 
    - Operating costs were up 2% to EUR 218 million, in line with expectations, 
despite the strong growth in business activity 
    - Business Income Operating Margin, which excludes the effect of interest 
income, up 5.7 percentage points to 39.2%, considerably above our strategic 
target range of mid 30% 
    - EBITDA margin of 49.1% is higher than FY 2020 average of 46.6%, however 
remains down 1.2 percentage points year-on-year due to pre-Covid-19 prior year 
Q1 comparator for interest income 
    - Net profit was down 4% to EUR 123 million 
    - Balance sheet and liquidity position remains strong with AA/AA+ ratings 
confirmed post MFEX acquisition 
    - Outlook: given the strong business income growth, we expect full year 
2021 financial performance at similar or higher level compared to 2020 


    Operating metrics reach very high levels

    - Settlement volumes increased by 6% year-on-year to 76 million netted 
transactions processed by Euroclear's resilient infrastructure 
    - Assets under Custody increased 16% to EUR 34.1 trillion, boosted by 
equity market recovery, combined with new issuances and business strategy 
progress. Double-digit increases in strategic growth areas:
        -- Fund assets under custody reached EUR 2.7 trillion, growth of 28% 
reflecting the appeal of Euroclear FundsPlace
        -- Attractiveness of Euroclearability to international issuers and 
investors supported 19% increase in Global Reach assets under custody to EUR 
1.4 trillion
        -- Collateral outstanding increased 12% year on year with Euroclear's 
Collateral Highway mobilising EUR 1.7 trillion 

    Progressing strategic plans

    Euroclear continues to progress its strategy to strengthen, grow and 
reshape its global network

    Acquisition of MFEX group
    - Acquired MFEX Group, a leading global digital fund distribution platform, 
creating a new funds market utility and leading global provider of fund 
services 
    Strengthening our network
    - Successfully completed the migration of Irish corporate securities from 
Euroclear UK & Ireland to Euroclear Bank as Issuer CSD
    - Launched a new settlement model in the UK allowing for continued central 
bank money settlement in Euros 
    Growing our network
    - Euroclear Bank partnered with the Singapore Exchange to launch the Orchid 
bond structure combining domestic bond issuance with global distribution 
channels
    - The Bank of China became the first issuer to utilise Euroclear Bank's 
recently launched Yulan bond structure 
    Reshaping our network
    - Rolling out InvestorInsight solution for issuers, including shareholder 
identification services to support issuers' efforts to enhance corporate 
governance


    Our business continuity plan continues to work well, supporting our 
customers as well as our colleagues. Almost everyone continues to work remotely 
as protecting the health and safety of our people remains our priority. The 
group intends to explore new ways of working, including a hybrid model 
combining office presence and remote working in the future.

    Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We have seen a strong start 
to the year, a testament to the resilience of our team and robustness of our 
business model as well the continuation of very high levels of activity across 
our markets. We remain focused on delivering on our long term strategic 
priorities for all our stakeholders."


    Abridged Financial Statements

 

    Euroclear Holding 
								    vs
    (EUR m)                             Q1 2020     Q1 2021	   2020

      Operating Income                       383      382         0      0%
       Business Income                       321      358        37     11.7%
       Interests, banking & other inc         62       24       -38    -61%

      Operating Expenses          	    -213     -218        -4     -2.1%
      Operating Profit before impairment     169      164        -5     -3%
      Impairment                             -1        0          0
      Pre tax profit                         169      164        -5     -3%

      Tax                                    -41      -41         0      0%
 
      Net profit                             127      123        -5     -4%

      EPS                                     40.4     39.0             -4%

      Business income operating margin        33.5%   39.2%

      EBITDA margin (EBITDA/op.Inc)           50.3%   49.1%

      Operating leverage                                          	9.6%


     (in € million)     	1st 	    Var	      1st
    				quarter    2021-     quareter
				2021	   2020	      2020
 

     Euroclear Bank 
      Income Statement
     ---

     Net interest income         26.0      -45.2        71.2
     Net fee and commission 
	income                	 221.9      22.6       199.3
     Other income     		  3.3        3.8        -0.5

     Total operating income  	251.2      -18.8       270.0
     ---

     Administrative expenses    (147.5)    (11.7)      (135.8)

     Operating profit before 
     impairment and taxation     103.7      -30.5        134.2

      Result for the period      77.4       -22.3         99.7 
     ---

     Euroclear Bank Balance Sheet
     ---

       Shareholders' equity     1,883.0      -98.3       1,981.2
       Long term debt  		5,553.7     -175.3       5,729.0
        Total assets 		29,401.8   -3,182.1     32,583.9

     Key performance ratios
     ---
  
       Business Income 
       Operating Margin (%)         36%           1%         35%
       CET1 ratio (%)* 		    41%    	 n/a         36%
     * Figures for Q1 2021 are based on estimation


     Euroclear Investments Income Statement
    ---

        Dividend    		   270.0        270.0        0.0
        Net gains/(losses) on
        non trading financial 
 	assets at FVPL     	   (12.0)       376.9      (388.9)
        Other income      	     0.9         -0.1         1.1

     Total operating income        258.9        646.7      (387.8)
     ---

     Administrative expenses	    (0.2)        (0.0)       (0.2)

     Operating profit after 
     impairment and before 
      taxation    	           258.7         646.7     (388.0)

    Result for the period	   261.4         552.6     (291.3)
    ---

    Euroclear Investments Balance Sheet
    ---

      Shareholders' equity    	   781.1         309.8      471.3
      Long term debt    	 1,308.7           1.1      1,307.5
       Total assets of which     2,136.3         356.8      1,779.5
             Loans and advances     78.6          21.3         57.3
             Available-for-sale
		financial assets    311.4         64.7        246.6
                Intercompany loans  1,164.8      376.5        788.3

 
 

    About Euroclear

    Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade 
services. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross- 
border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds. 
Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to 
delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global 
client franchise.

    The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch 
Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor's - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear 
Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear 
UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 897 trillion in 
securities transactions in 2020, representing 276 million domestic and 
cross-border transactions, and held EUR 32.8 trillion in assets for clients by 
end 2020. For more information about Euroclear, please visit www.euroclear.com.

    Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/832898/Euroclear_Logo.jpg


    Source: Euroclear