Higher interest rates and brisk trading in power derivatives helped Deutsche Börse to a jump in sales and profits in the second quarter.

"Due to the very good development in the first half of 2023 and the outlook for the rest of the year, we expect to exceed our forecast for 2023," the exchange operator announced on Tuesday evening. It did not provide more precise figures. For 2023, the Group had forecast net revenue of between 4.5 and 4.7 (2022: 4.34) billion euros and EBITDA of 2.6 to 2.8 (2022: 2.5) billion euros.

In the second quarter, net revenue climbed by 20 percent to EUR1.2 billion, "largely driven by strong net interest income from the banking business", as Deutsche Börse explained. The operating result (EBITDA) increased by 25 percent to 733 million euros. Both figures significantly exceeded analysts' expectations. While the high trading volume in the first quarter had driven business due to the turbulence in the banking sector, the second quarter was more subdued. In some cases, trading volumes in equity derivatives were significantly lower than in the previous year, it was reported. On the other hand, trading activity in electricity derivatives, which had been dampened by the energy crisis in the previous year, picked up. In addition to the Xetra equity trading platform, Deutsche Börse also operates the EEX energy exchange, the Eurex derivatives exchange and the 360T foreign exchange trading platform.

The increase in the forecast for the year as a whole does not yet include the expected contribution from the Danish financial software specialist SimCorp, which Deutsche Börse intends to acquire for 3.9 billion euros. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, once all approvals have been obtained. "We are right on schedule," explained CFO Gregor Pottmeyer. The acquisition, which the Group intends to use to strengthen its data analytics business, has already delayed the presentation of the new strategy, which Deutsche Börse had originally planned to present in June. It is now planned for the fall.

(Report by Sabine Wollrab. Edited by Ralf Bode. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)