Deutsche Boerse ups 2022 targets after Q1 beat

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German exchange operator Deutsche Boerse raised its full-year targets on Monday as it reported better-than-expected quarterly results thanks to higher trading activity amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Due to the uncertainty on the market, demand for hedging in almost all asset classes rose and boosted trading volumes especially in index derivatives and commodities including energy and gas products, Deutsche Boerse said.

“The first quarter of 2022 was considerably above our expectations,” Chief Financial Officer Gregor Pottmeyer said in a statement.

The company said it now expects 2022 net revenue over 3.8 billion euros ($4.07 billion) and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) over 2.2 billion euros as its cyclical net revenue grew more than expected in the first quarter.

Deutsche Boerse’s previous forecast had been for revenue around 3.8 billion euros and EBITDA around 2.2 billion euros.

It added longer-term growth has been driven by new products in financial derivatives, Deutsche Boerse’s increasing market share in commodities, growing demand for environment-related products and the continued trend to outsource fund management.

The company’s EBITDA rose 32% to 687.4 million euros in the first quarter, compared with analysts’ average expectation for a figure of 637.9 million euros.

($1 = 0.9334 euro)

(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska; Editing by Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy)