AsiaNet 89228

BRUSSELS, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

     Business Income growth up 12%, offsetting reduction of Interest Income

    - Business Income rose 12% to EUR 358 million driven by strategic progress,

sustained settlement activity, higher equity valuations and new issuance by

governments and corporations

    - Banking and Other Income decreased 61% to EUR 24 million as expected,

given the lower interest rate environment compared to Q1 2020

    - Resulting total Q1 revenues of EUR 382 million were flat year-on-year,

despite the reduction of interest-related income

    - Operating costs were up 2% to EUR 218 million, in line with expectations,

despite the strong growth in business activity

    - Business Income Operating Margin, which excludes the effect of interest

income, up 5.7 percentage points to 39.2%, considerably above our strategic

target range of mid 30%

    - EBITDA margin of 49.1% is higher than FY 2020 average of 46.6%, however

remains down 1.2 percentage points year-on-year due to pre-Covid-19 prior year

Q1 comparator for interest income

    - Net profit was down 4% to EUR 123 million

    - Balance sheet and liquidity position remains strong with AA/AA+ ratings

confirmed post MFEX acquisition

    - Outlook: given the strong business income growth, we expect full year

2021 financial performance at similar or higher level compared to 2020

    Operating metrics reach very high levels

    - Settlement volumes increased by 6% year-on-year to 76 million netted

transactions processed by Euroclear's resilient infrastructure

    - Assets under Custody increased 16% to EUR 34.1 trillion, boosted by

equity market recovery, combined with new issuances and business strategy

progress. Double-digit increases in strategic growth areas:

        -- Fund assets under custody reached EUR 2.7 trillion, growth of 28%

reflecting the appeal of Euroclear FundsPlace

        -- Attractiveness of Euroclearability to international issuers and

investors supported 19% increase in Global Reach assets under custody to EUR

1.4 trillion

        -- Collateral outstanding increased 12% year on year with Euroclear's

Collateral Highway mobilising EUR 1.7 trillion

    Progressing strategic plans

    Euroclear continues to progress its strategy to strengthen, grow and

reshape its global network

    Acquisition of MFEX group

    - Acquired MFEX Group, a leading global digital fund distribution platform,

creating a new funds market utility and leading global provider of fund

services

    Strengthening our network

    - Successfully completed the migration of Irish corporate securities from

Euroclear UK & Ireland to Euroclear Bank as Issuer CSD

    - Launched a new settlement model in the UK allowing for continued central

bank money settlement in Euros

    Growing our network

    - Euroclear Bank partnered with the Singapore Exchange to launch the Orchid

bond structure combining domestic bond issuance with global distribution

channels

    - The Bank of China became the first issuer to utilise Euroclear Bank's

recently launched Yulan bond structure

    Reshaping our network

    - Rolling out InvestorInsight solution for issuers, including shareholder

identification services to support issuers' efforts to enhance corporate

governance

    Our business continuity plan continues to work well, supporting our

customers as well as our colleagues. Almost everyone continues to work remotely

as protecting the health and safety of our people remains our priority. The

group intends to explore new ways of working, including a hybrid model

combining office presence and remote working in the future.

    Lieve Mostrey, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We have seen a strong start

to the year, a testament to the resilience of our team and robustness of our

business model as well the continuation of very high levels of activity across

our markets. We remain focused on delivering on our long term strategic

priorities for all our stakeholders."

    Abridged Financial Statements

    Euroclear Holding

                                                                       vs

    (EUR m)                                           Q1 2020     Q1 2021           2020

      Operating Income                                  383       382              0         0%

       Business Income                                   321       358           37     11.7%

       Interests, banking & other inc                62         24            -38    -61%

      Operating Expenses                               -213     -218           -4     -2.1%

      Operating Profit before impairment        169       164           -5     -3%

      Impairment                                                -1            0            0

      Pre tax profit                                            169       164           -5     -3%

      Tax                                                            -41       -41            0       0%

      Net profit                                                 127       123            -5     -4%

      EPS                                                         40.4     39.0                     -4%

      Business income operating margin        33.5%   39.2%

      EBITDA margin (EBITDA/op.Inc)           50.3%   49.1%

      Operating leverage                                                                        9.6%

     (in € million)             1st             Var              1st

                                    quarter      2021-         quareter

                                   2021           2020              2020

     Euroclear Bank

      Income Statement

     ---

     Net interest income                 26.0      -45.2        71.2

     Net fee and commission

        income                                  221.9      22.6       199.3

     Other income                              3.3        3.8        -0.5

     Total operating income          251.2      -18.8       270.0

     ---

     Administrative expenses     (147.5)    (11.7)      (135.8)

     Operating profit before

     impairment and taxation        103.7      -30.5        134.2

      Result for the period               77.4       -22.3         99.7

     ---

     Euroclear Bank Balance Sheet

     ---

       Shareholders' equity          1,883.0      -98.3       1,981.2

       Long term debt                  5,553.7     -175.3       5,729.0

        Total assets                     29,401.8   -3,182.1     32,583.9

     Key performance ratios

     ---

       Business Income

       Operating Margin (%)         36%           1%         35%

       CET1 ratio (%)*                     41%             n/a         36%

     * Figures for Q1 2021 are based on estimation

     Euroclear Investments Income Statement

    ---

        Dividend                             270.0        270.0        0.0

        Net gains/(losses) on

        non trading financial

        assets at FVPL                (12.0)       376.9      (388.9)

        Other income                    0.9         -0.1         1.1

     Total operating income        258.9        646.7      (387.8)

     ---

     Administrative expenses          (0.2)        (0.0)       (0.2)

     Operating profit after

     impairment and before

      taxation                                258.7         646.7     (388.0)

    Result for the period               261.4         552.6     (291.3)

    ---

    Euroclear Investments Balance Sheet

    ---

      Shareholders' equity               781.1         309.8      471.3

      Long term debt                    1,308.7           1.1      1,307.5

       Total assets of which          2,136.3         356.8      1,779.5

             Loans and advances           78.6          21.3         57.3

             Available-for-sale

                financial assets              311.4         64.7        246.6

                Intercompany loans     1,164.8        376.5        788.3

    About Euroclear

    Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade

services. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross-

border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives to investment funds.

Euroclear is a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure committed to

delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global

client franchise.

    The Euroclear group includes Euroclear Bank - which is rated AA+ by Fitch

Ratings and AA by Standard & Poor's - as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear

Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden and Euroclear

UK & Ireland. The Euroclear group settled the equivalent of EUR 897 trillion in

securities transactions in 2020, representing 276 million domestic and

cross-border transactions, and held EUR 32.8 trillion in assets for clients by

end 2020. For more information about Euroclear, please visit www.euroclear.com.

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    Source: Euroclear