Saxo Bank, a Multi-Asset broker based in Denmark, has published its financial results for 2018. Following the sale of its shareholding in Saxo Payments, the broker has managed to achieve a record profit during the year.
2018 was a big year for Saxo Bank. As Finance Magnates reported, China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd (Geely) became the majority shareholder of the firm, acquiring a 52 percent stake, and Finland’s Sampo plc (Sampo) also acquired 19.9 percent slice of Saxo Bank A/S.
During the year, the Danish brokerage also launched a number of products, such as SaxoTraderPRO and the user-friendly SaxoInvestor platform. All of this, the company said, has contributed to it reporting a positive net profit of DKK 955.8 million ($145.6 million) for 2018, a record for the Group.
Not only was 2018’s net profit a record for the company, but it was also more than double than that achieved in 2017, which was DKK 401.1 million, increasing by 138 percent year-on-year.
Kim Fournais
Commenting on the results, Kim Fournais, the CEO and founder of Saxo Bank, said: “2018 has been a defining year for Saxo Bank. We are very proud to have welcomed Geely Holding Group and Sampo plc as new shareholders giving us a strong foundation and governance to execute on our long-term plans.
“We have launched a wide range of new products, platforms, services and improvements in our pricing to our clients notably the two new platforms, SaxoTraderPRO and SaxoInvestor. All of this enables us to deliver a world class client experience which has supported the 67 per cent increase in new direct trading clients.”
Saxo Bank Operating Income Drops by 8 Percent YoY
However, while net profit was up dramatically, operating income in 2018 didn’t hold up so well. In fact, it fell by eight percent when compared to 2017 which had an operating income of DKK 3.0 billion, coming in at DKK 2.8 billion.
“Contributing factors to the small decline in revenue are the sale of our last non-core activities, lower client activity levels given the generally difficult market conditions as well as the introduction of lower prices across products,” continued Fournais.
Furthermore, as at the end of 2018, the Saxo Bank Group’s total capital ratio reached 35 percent, compared to 22.7 percent at the end of 2017. This strengthening of capital will allow the company to acquire BinckBank, an independent Dutch online discount broker.
“With a stronger capital base than ever before, we have a solid foundation for executing the planned Acquisition of BinckBank. BinckBank and Saxo Bank are highly complementary and the combination of the businesses will create win-win for all stakeholders as clients will be offered better products, prices, platforms and services, employees will benefit from enhanced career opportunities in a larger international organisation and, crucially, we gain necessary scale,” added Saxo Bank’s CEO.
