25 April 2024
Flow Traders announces its unaudited Q1 2024 trading update.
Highlights
- Flow Traders recorded Net Trading Income of €127.1m and Total Income of €129.6m in Q124, compared to €72.7m and €74.3m, respectively, in Q423, and €110.5m for both in Q123.
- Flow Traders’ Value Traded increased 7% in Q124 when compared to last quarter and was flat when compared to the same period last year.
- Total Operating Expenses were €68.5m in Q124, compared to €62.5m in Q423 and €70.3m in Q123, with Fixed Operating Expenses of €43.6m, compared to €40.4m in Q423 and €43.9m in Q123.
- EBITDA was €61.1m in Q124, generating an EBITDA margin of 47%, compared to €11.8m and 16% in Q423 and €40.2m and 36% in Q123.
- Net Profit was €45.9m in Q124, yielding a basic EPS of €1.06, compared to €6.4m of Net Profit and €0.15 of basic EPS in Q423 and €27.7m and €0.64 in Q123.
- Trading capital stood at €609m at the end of Q124 and generated a 52% return on trading capital1 (84% on an annualized basis), compared to €583m and 51% in Q423 and €647m and 65% in Q123.
- Shareholders’ equity was €631m at the end of Q124, compared to €586m at the end of Q423 and €622m at the end of Q123.
- Flow Traders employed 633 FTEs at the end of Q124, compared to 646 at the end of Q423 and 667 at the end of Q123.
- To reduce complexity in financial reporting and adhere to accounting best practices, the reporting of Normalized financials will cease going forward.
- A conference call with the financial analyst community will be webcasted on Flow Traders’ website today at 10:00 CEST at https://www.flowtraders.com/investors/results-centre.
CEO Statement
Mike Kuehnel, CEO
“Flow Traders achieved a strong result in Q1 on the back of elevated trading activity in the digital assets space in the quarter, despite the relatively subdued market trading environment in other asset classes. This quarter serves as further validation of our growth and diversification strategy, given our initial investment in the digital assets space more than seven years ago and our continued investment in the asset class when others quickly left during the downturn merely a year ago. Our steadfast belief in the asset class, and the opportunities it can bring to traditional financial markets is unwavering. We were well prepared for the highly anticipated regulatory approval in the U.S. for spot Bitcoin ETFs that came through at the beginning in the quarter as institutional interest in digital assets continues to grow around the world.
Coming to the other areas of our trading capabilities, we have seen a slight increase in activity since the lows seen last December, although volatility is still down significantly when compared to a year ago. Regardless of the environment, we have been enhancing our trading capabilities and counterparty network in existing areas as well as exploring new potential opportunities. In terms of our strategic investments, we are well on track with our Euro-denominated stablecoin joint venture AllUnity with our partners DWS and Galaxy Digital, and in Q1 announced a strategic investment in ClearToken, further underpinning our strategy of investing in connectivity and financial market infrastructure.
Looking at our operations, as we continue to focus on cost and operational efficiencies while balancing our key growth initiatives, fixed operating expenses in the quarter came in-line with our expectations. As we continue to execute our growth and diversification strategy and invest in trading capabilities in different asset classes and regions, we believe we can accelerate the growth of the firm with additional trading capital and will look to bolster our trading capital.
In addition, we are thrilled to have Owain Lloyd join Flow Traders on 1 May as Chief Technology Officer. Owain brings with him over 20 years of senior leadership experience across traditional finance, market making, and digital assets trading technology and we look forward to his nomination as an Executive Director of the Board at our AGM on 13 June.”
Full press release here.