Pan-European cash equities trading exchange Aquis Exchange (AQX) joined the Alternative Investment Market in June 2018 with around 2 per cent market share, and ended the year with nearly 4 per cent. A rise in the number of its trading members from 24 to 27 and an increase in the average value of monthly subscriptions drove full-year revenues to £4m, double the previous level and 19 per cent ahead of analysts' expectations.
The exchange’s pre-tax losses grew, owing to £1.01m in exceptional IPO costs, along with investment in personnel and technology. Brexit poses a threat this year, with regulatory costs and risk expected to lift costs by around 5 per cent. It’s just as well, then, that Aquis successfully applied in January 2019 for regulatory approval to operate a multilateral trading facility (MTF) in France. Aquis awaits the full effects of the new markets in financial instruments directive (Mifid II), which came into force from the outset of last year and “did have some immediate impact”, according to management.
Analysts at house broker Liberum forecast full-year 2019 adjusted pre-tax losses of £1m and a loss per share of 3.6p for 2019, against a loss of £2.2m and a loss per share of 13.6p in 2018.
| AQUIS EXCHANGE (AQX) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 583p | MARKET VALUE: | £158m | |
| TOUCH: | 565-600p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 610p | LOW: 295p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 54p | NET CASH: | £11.6m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 2.01 | -3.3 | nil | nil |
| 2018 | 3.98 | -3.7 | -21 | nil |
| % change | +98 | +12 | - | - |
| Ex-div: | na | |||
| Payment: | na |
