Euroclear, a major Belgium-based financial services company, published its financials for the first half of 2022, reporting a 42 percent jump in its net profit which reached €351 million.
The company, which specializes in the settlement of securities transactions and safe-keeping of assets, heavily benefited from the sanctions on Russia with increased cash balances from frozen Russian assets.
It earned €110 million as interest income from frozen Russian assets in the period. In addition, it blocked coupon payments from Russia that pushed the country to default on its international debts.
“We delivered a strong performance across the business and saw an increase in interest earnings due to higher interest rates and accumulated cash balances as a consequence of frozen assets due to the Russian sanctions,” said Lieve Mostrey, the CEO of Euroclear.
Business Performance
Moreover, the underlying business of the group performed well, bringing in €277 million in net profits.
The total operating income of Euroclear in the six months came in at €998 million, which is a 24 percent increase year-over-year. That figure includes €807 million that came from business income, which is a jump of 7 percent.
However, the operating expenses increased by 12 percent to €534 million. It highlighted the continued investment in technology and service offering, along with the impact of inflation and costs related to managing Russian sanctions.
The company reported €111.7 per share earnings in the six months that strengthened the earnings by 40 percent. The Board is now intending to pay a dividend of €88.5 per share.
“As we look forward, we see opportunities to further enhance our client offerings, such as through innovative data-enabled services and connecting to global markets, while meeting our responsibilities as a financial market infrastructure to support sustainable economic growth,” Mostrey added.
