Aquis Exchange PLC (AIM:AQX) chief executive Alasdair Haynes told investors that the small and micro-cap bourse has demonstrated it has “the right model, team, technology and vision” to deliver shareholder value despite the prevailing economic uncertainty and it looks to the future with confidence.
The company has today reported a 21% increase in first-half revenue to £8.3mln versus £6.9mln, and marked £1.4mln of earnings (EBITDA), against £1.6mln last year, as it invested in technology and development resources.
Pre-tax profit amounted to £700,000, from £1mln in the same period of 2021; meanwhile, the company ended the first half with £13.3mln of cash and equivalents.
On the exchange, the company highlighted that membership count increased to 42 companies after 12 new admissions during the six months, whilst noting that a small decline in monthly activity reflected an increase in market volatility.
It said that the exchange saw a 5.2% share of all pan-European trading in the period, compared to 5.35% in the first half of last year.
The company said it is currently tracking in line with market expectations for the full year.
Haynes, in a statement, said: "Our revenues have continued to increase, reflecting the strong momentum across the group.
“This growth has been driven by increased contributions from the principal business divisions: pan-European secondary trading, technology sales, primary issuers and data revenues. The continued strength of our offering in this division is demonstrated by our finishing with 5.20% of all pan-European secondary trading by the end of 2Q22.
“We are also particularly encouraged by the number of new significant technology licenses that continue to be signed as this growing division becomes an increasingly material and important part of our business.”
The Aquis chief executive, meanwhile, highlighted the acquisition of the ‘matching pool’ operation from UBS which it now offers to its customers.
“We will continue to enhance this area and look forward to offering further product innovation in this space to enable clients to execute the trading strategies they wish,” he added.