13.11.2023 09:45

Moscow Exchange announces results for the third quarter of 2023

Moscow Exchange (MOEX) today announces its financial results based on summary financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for Q3 2023.

Unless stated otherwise, all figures below refer to performance in Q3 2023 and all comparisons are with the corresponding period last year.

KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q3 2023

  • Fee and commission (F&C) income increased by 60.9% to RUB 14.37 bln.
  • Net interest income (NII) gained 21.8%. Core NII added 23.8%.
  • Operating income grew 41.0%.
  • OPEX was up 37.7%. Cost-to-income ratio improved by 0.7 p.p. and amounted to 29.0%.
  • Adjusted net profit grew 29.3% to reach RUB 13.31 bln.

KEY BUSINESS & CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS FOR Q3 2023

  • Moscow Exchange approved new strategy and updated dividend policy.
  • Softline (SOFL), IT solutions and services provider, listed its local shares on MOEX following the exchange of Noventiq GDRs for these local shares.
  • On the Derivatives Market, deliverable futures on Russian equities of five issuers became available, providing new trading and hedging opportunities.
  • Inaugural DFA issues took place on MOEX.
  • The Bond Market welcomed 168 new bond issues by 80 corporates, including 12 newcomers, for a total of RUB 1.4 trn.

EVENTS OCCURRING AFTER THE REPORTING PERIOD

  • Astra (ASTR), a Russian software developer, held its IPO on MOEX that featured a 20-fold oversubscription and raised a total of RUB 3.5 bln.
  • Henderson (HNFG), a Russian fashion retail company, completed its IPO on MOEX, raising a total of RUB 3.8 bln. The resulting free-float amounted to 13.9%.
  • 28.5 million clients held brokerage accounts on MOEX at the end of October.
  • The range of soft commodity instruments expanded with the launch of cash-settled futures and options on sugar index and trading auctions for milk and milk products.
  • The discrete auctions mechanism was updated along with the introduction of other measures that counter price destabilization.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (RUB mln)

  Q3 2023 Q3 2022 YoY Q2 2023 QoQ
Operating Income 25 598.6 18 159.6 41.0% 20 896.1 22.5%
· Fee and commission income 14 365.1 8 927.9 60.9% 11 933.0 20.4%
· Net interest and other finance income (NII) [1] 11 211.0 9 205.8 21.8% 8 958.3 25.1%
Core NII – NII less realized gains or losses on investment portfolio revaluation [2] 11 467.2 9 264.7 23.8% 9 272.7 23.7%
· Other operating income 22.5 25.9 -13.1% 4.8 368.8%
Operating Expenses 7 422.5 5 389.2 37.7% 5 906.5 25.7%
· Personnel expenses 4 275.9 2 894.8 47.7% 2 902.4 47.3%
· D&A and IT maintenance 1 603.6 1 504.4 6.6% 1 606.6 -0.2%
· Remaining general and administrative expenses 1 543.0 990.0 55.9% 1 397.5 10.4%
Profit before other operating expenses and tax 18 176.1 12 770.4 42.3% 14 989.6 21.3%
Movement in allowance for expected credit losses 1 271.1 - 1 722.9 nm 356.6 nm
Other impairment and provisions - 60.3 - 252.3 nm - 232.9 nm
Profit before tax 19 386.9 10 795.2 79.6% 15 113.3 28.3%
Income tax - 5 107.2 - 2 080.4 145.5% - 3 003.0 70.1%
Net Profit 14 279.7 8 714.8 63.9% 12 110.3 17.9%
Basic earnings per share, RUB 6.32 3.86 63.7% 5.37 17.7%
           
Net Profit 14 279.7 8 714.8 63.9% 12 110.3 17.9%
· Movements in allowance for ECLs - 1 271.1 1 722.9 nm - 356.6 nm
· Other impairment and provisions 60.3 252.3 nm 232.9 nm
· Deferred taxes related to movements in allowance for ECLs and other impairment & provisions 242.2 - 395.0 nm 24.7 nm
Adjusted Net Profit 13 311.1 10 295.0 29.3% 12 011.3 10.8%
           
EBITDA 20 576.9 11 906.1 72.8% 16 342.6 25.9%
· Movements in allowance for ECLs - 1 271.1 1 722.9 nm - 356.6 nm
· Other impairment and provisions 60.3 252.3 nm 232.9 nm
Adjusted EBITDA 19 366.1 13 881.3 39.5% 16 218.9 19.4%
Adjusted EBITDA margin 75.7% 76.4% -0.7 p.p. 77.6% -1.9 p.p.

OPEX BREAKDOWN (RUB mln)

  Q3 2023 Q3 2022 YoY Q2 2023 QoQ
General and Administrative Expenses 3 146.6 2 494.4 26.1% 3 004.1 4.7%
· Amortisation of intangible assets 966.5 814.6 18.6% 973.3 -0.7%
· Equipment and intangible assets maintenance 413.6 393.5 5.1% 377.3 9.6%
· Advertising and marketing costs 332.3 161.3 106.0% 300.7 10.5%
· Depreciation of property and equipment 223.5 296.3 -24.6% 256.0 -12.7%
· Agent fees 189.8 93.6 102.8% 162.9 16.5%
· Taxes, other than income tax 173.2 206.8 -16.2% 165.8 4.5%
· Market makers fees 171.9 97.3 76.7% 173.6 -1.0%
· Professional services 158.3 187.3 -15.5% 213.0 -25.7%
· Registrar and foreign depository services 146.4 60.0 144.0% 116.3 25.9%
· Information services 127.4 38.1 234.4% 85.3 49.4%
· Loss on disposal of subsidiaries 84.0 - nm - nm
· Rent and office maintenance 76.5 88.6 -13.7% 83.9 -8.8%
· Communication services 24.8 18.8 31.9% 27.2 -8.8%
· Security expenses 8.4 7.6 10.5% 9.9 -15.2%
· Business trip expenses 7.7 2.1 266.7% 18.1 -57.5%
· Transport expenses 5.9 5.9 0.0% 5.4 9.3%
· Charity 2.1 2.5 -16.0% 3.3 -36.4%
· Loss on disposal of property, equipment and intangible assets 0.3 3.9 -92.3% 12.4 -97.6%
· Other 34.0 16.2 109.9% 19.7 72.6%
Personnel expenses 4 275.9 2 894.8 47.7% 2 902.4 47.3%
· Employees benefits except for share-based payments 3 579.9 2 384.7 50.1% 2 330.1 53.6%
· Payroll related taxes 642.5 434.1 48.0% 488.4 31.6%
· Share-based payment expense on equity settled instruments 15.0 67.3 -77.7% 71.9 -79.1%
· Share-based payment expense on cash settled instruments 38.5 8.7 342.5% 12.0 220.8%
           
Total operating expenses 7 422.5 5 389.2 37.7% 5 906.5 25.7%
           
Headcount, employees e-o-p 2 522 2 394 5.3% 2 405 4.9%
  • OPEX for 3Q’23 increased by 37.7%. 9M’23 OPEX was up 5.4%.
  • Personnel expenses growth of 47.7% decomposes into: [1] 31.5 p.p. additional bonus provisions following the review of compensation system, [2] 15.7 p.p. general wage revisions and new hires, [3] 0.5 p.p. other factors.
  • The employee headcount was up 5.3%.
  • Advertising and marketing costs doubled. The surge is explained by Finuslugi-related spending.
  • Agent fees doubled, reflecting the performance of insurance sales at Finuslugi platform.
  • The 3.3x increase in information services expense is reimbursed via corresponding F&C revenues of the Derivatives Market.
  • D&A and IT maintenance grew 6.6%, and the D&A alone was up 7.1%. IT maintenance costs increased by 5.1%. The 9.6% QoQ rise in IT maintenance costs is due to the gradual implementation of the software & hardware renewal program.
  • 3Q’23 CAPEX was RUB 0.68 bln. 9M’23 CAPEX amounted to RUB 2.16 bln.

PERFORMANCE OF KEY BUSINESS LINES

  Q3 2023 Q3 2022 YoY Q2 2023 QoQ
Equities Market          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 2 395.2 559.4 328.2% 1 617.5 48.1%
Trading volumes, RUB bln 7 930.7 3 121.3 154.1% 5 332.5 48.7%
           
Bond Market          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 845.5 486.2 73.9% 712.2 18.7%
Trading volumes (ex. overnight bonds), RUB bln 4 716.0 2 749.9 71.5% 3 968.3 18.8%
           
FX Market          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 2 055.6 1 526.8 34.6% 1 622.0 26.7%
Trading volumes, RUB bln 93 720.1 57 718.4 62.4% 66 713.0 40.5%
           
Money Market          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 3 187.1 2 071.4 53.9% 2 767.0 15.2%
Trading volumes, RUB bln 218 359.4 150 027.3 45.5% 184 027.1 18.7%
           
Derivatives Market          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 1 839.1 1 055.9 74.2% 1 464.4 25.6%
Trading volumes, RUB bln 24 158.1 15 964.8 51.3% 17 758.3 36.0%
           
Depository and Settlement Services          
Fee and commission income, RUB mln 2 522.5 1 931.4 30.6% 2 298.6 9.7%
Average assets under custody, RUB bln 76 817.8 54 950.0 39.8% 69 949.8 9.8%
           
Other fee and commission income (IT Services, Listing, Marketplace and other) 1 520.1 1 296.8 17.2% 1 451.3 4.7%
Information services, RUB mln 365.3 248.8 46.8% 340.5 7.3%
Sale of software and tech. services, RUB mln 401.7 301.6 33.2% 385.5 4.2%
Listing and other services, RUB mln 175.6 154.7 13.5% 178.7 -1.7%
Financial marketplace services, RUB mln 456.4 160.0 185.3% 358.5 27.3%
Other fee income, RUB mln 121.1 431.7 -71.9% 188.1 -35.6%
           
Net interest and other finance income          
Net interest and other finance income, RUB mln 11 211.0 9 205.8 21.8% 8 958.3 25.1%
Investment portfolio, RUB bln 2 500.3 2 384.3 4.9% 2 166.5 15.4%
  • The total market capitalization of the Equities Market at the end of the third quarter was RUB 57.74 trln (USD 592.68 bln). Fee and commission income from the Equities Market quadrupled. Volumes increased by 2.5 times as trading velocity went up. Over 3 million clients were active every month during the quarter. The discrepancy between fees and volumes dynamics is due to the asymmetric tariff structure introduced in Nov’22.
  • Fees and commissions from the Bond Market grew 73.9%. Trading volumes (excluding overnight bonds) were up 71.5%. Primary market was active despite volatile interest rate environment. Secondary trading volumes increased by 37.4%. Secondary trading of OFZ & OBR was up 30.2%; other bonds’ volumes were up 48.5%.
  • Money Market fee income improved by 53.9% as trading volumes added 45.5%. The discrepancy between fees and volumes dynamics was mainly attributable to an increase of value-added GCC repo share in total trading volumes’ mix.
  • Fee income from the FX Market grew 34.6% while trading volumes were up 62.4%. The effective fee dynamics is influenced by the 2 opposing factors: [1] the tariff structure favoring liquidity makers on the spot market that came into effect on the 1st of August 2022, [2] a shift in the trading volumes’ mix towards less profitable swap segment. Spot trading volumes increased by 23.6%, while swap volumes gained 91.2%.
  • Derivatives Market fee income grew by 74.2%, while trading volumes were up 51.3%. Volumes’ mix changed towards higher value-added derivative contracts based on commodities, single stocks and interest rates. Specifically, commodity derivatives’ volumes surged 3.4x while single-stock derivatives volumes increased by 85.3%. Volumes of interest rate contracts surged 5.3x YoY amidst volatile interest rate environment. The effective fee was also affected by the 5x decrease in options trading fee in April 2023.
  • Other fee and commission income increased by 17.2%. Information sales were up 46.8%, largely due to RUB depreciation. Sales of software and technical services increased by 33.2%, driven by tariffs revision and the introduction of low-latency protocols for market data distribution – SIMBA ASTS and FIFO TWIME ASTS – to Equities and FX Markets. Sales of software and technical services were also supported by the elevated demand for colocation and advanced network access solutions. Listing and other services increased by 13.5% as activity on the primary bond market remained strong during the quarter. Finuslugi marketplace revenue nearly tripled to RUB 456.4 mln with deposit and loan segments performing particularly well. Other fee income decreased 71.9% since the base period included fees on FX client balances.
  • The cash position[3] at the end of Q3 2023 was RUB 117.73 bln. The company had no debt as of the end of the quarter.
  • Capex for the quarter was RUB 0.68 bln, mostly spent on purchases of software and equipment as well as software development.

Moscow Exchange’s summary consolidated IFRS financial statements for Q3 2023 are available in the Investor Relations section of the company's web site.

Contacts:

Investor Relations: Public Relations:
Anton Terentiev, CFA
+7 495 363 3232
ir@moex.com
Lev Bystrov
+7 495 363 3232
pr@moex.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Moscow Exchange

Moscow Exchange Group operates Russia’s main trading platform for equities, bonds, derivative instruments, currencies, money market instruments and commodities. The Group includes the central securities depository (National Settlement Depository), and a clearing center (National Clearing Centre), performing the functions of central counterparty on the markets, which allows Moscow Exchange to offer its clients the full spectrum of trading and post-trading services. Moscow Exchange held the initial public offering of its shares on 15 February 2013 (ticker MOEX).

Disclaimers

Some of the information in these materials may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Company. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "will", "could", "may" or "might" the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. The Company wishes to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. The Company does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of the Company, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in the Russian Federation, rapid technological and market change in the industries the Company operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to the Company and its operations.


[1] Calculated as the sum of interest income calculated using the effective interest method, other interest income, gains/losses on FVTPL, gains/losses on FVTOCI, foreign currencies & precious metals gains less losses minus interest expense.
[2] Calculated as the sum of interest income calculated using the effective interest method, other interest income, gains/losses on FVTPL, foreign currencies & precious metals gains less losses less interest expense (compared to net interest and other finance income, excludes gains/losses on FVTOCI).
[3] Cash position is calculated as the sum of Cash and cash equivalents, Financial assets at fair value through profit and loss, Due from financial institutions, Financial assets at fair value though other comprehensive income, Current tax prepayments and Other financial assets less Balances of market participants, Overnight bank loans, Distributions payable to holders of securities, Margin account, Liabilities related to assets held for sale, Current tax payables and Other financial liabilities.
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