Dutch stockbroker BinckBank announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2019 this Tuesday.
In its report, the firm provided some updates on its proposed takeover by Saxo Bank.
The Danish retail brokerage announced at the end of last year that it was planning on acquiring BinckBank for 424 million euros ($477 million).
And that deal is likely to go ahead with the Dutch firm writing in its financial report that it is “fully and unanimously supported by the executive board and the supervisory board of BinckBank.”
According to the stockbroker’s report, the process of acquiring regulatory approval for the deal has already begun, and it expects Saxo Bank to complete the Acquisition towards the start of the third quarter of this year.
Revenues down
Outside of changes in ownership, BinckBank reported a sharp decline in revenue and profit for the first three months of the year.
In the first quarter of 2018, the brokerage reported total operating revenue of just under 39.6 million euros ($44.5 million).
Tuesday’s financial report indicates that, for the same period this year, total operating revenue was 32.8 million euros ($36.89 million) - a 17 percent decline.
Unfortunately for the Dutch firm, there was almost no difference in operational expenditure in the first quarter of this year compared to last.
For the first three months of this year, the stockbroker spent 28.1 million euros ($31.6 million) on operational expenses. The equivalent figure for the first quarter of last year was 28.2 million euros ($31.7 million).
Volatility to blame
As a result, there was a sizeable year-on-year decline in profits for the firm.
After taxes, BinckBank reported net earnings of 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million) for this year’s first quarter.
That was a 55 percent drop on last year when the firm reported post-tax net earnings of just over 8.5 million euros ($9.6 million).
The Dutch company attributed the decline in earnings to lower volatility in the financial markets.
This is something that has affected a number of other brokers operating in both the retail and institutional space.
