SIX Group’s exchanges business unit faced low trading volumes in 2023, offsetting what was an overall positive earnings year for the Group.
In 2023, SIX recorded a decade-low in both trading volumes and volatilities – a trend which has been witnessed throughout Europe.
The exchanges business unit generated operating income of $379 million, down 10% year-on-year (YoY).
Despite this, SIX Group achieved a total operating income of $1,738 million, a growth of 3.5% YoY at constant exchange rates.
SIX Swiss Exchange was challenged by low trading volumes in cash equities across Europe, however, the Group claimed that the exchange recorded the lowest overall decline when compared to its peers.
Trading turnover at the exchange decreased by 13.4% year-on-year to £93 million. Elsewhere, the trading volume in bonds increased by roughly 11% compared to the previous year to $1,192 billion.
In its earnings report, SIX emphasised the importance of BME in its growth strategy.
Read more: SIX Group gains approval in Spain for €2.8 billion BME acquisition
BME continues to play an important role in the operational and financial success of SIX, having generated 18% of the Group’s total revenue in 2023. Trading turnover on BME Exchange did, however, decrease by 16.8% to $344 billion.
SIX Group’s main initiative for the provision of digital asset service, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), hit major milestones throughout 2023, according to the Group.
Last year, SIX onboarded eight new members across its SDX services, marking 16 members in total across its digital securities and Web3 offerings.
In an earnings call this morning, SIX revealed that it aims to grow total operating income by more than 3% per annum. The Group stated that its diversified business model will have achieve this goal.
“We are proud to have outperformed the previous year’s performance on an operational level. We are delivering on our growth strategy and the result is a testament of our diversified business model. Unfortunately, the strong operating result was affected by two major non-cash value adjustments,” said Jos Dijsselholf, chief executive at SIX.
“Nevertheless, we’re excited to leverage our skills and experience to deliver even more value to our clients. We are confident about our future growth, consistent financial performance, and ability to generate strong returns for our shareholders.”