Swiss stock exchange SIX expects to lose billions
Published: Thursday, Dec 14th 2023, 07:41
Retour au fil d'actualité
SIX will suffer a billion-euro loss in the coming year. This is due to value adjustments to the Worldline investment and the Spanish stock exchange.
The stock exchange operator expects a negative consolidated result in the region of CHF 1.0 to 1.1 billion for 2023, as announced on Thursday. In 2022, it generated a net profit of 185 million francs. And in the first half of 2023 alone, SIX earned CHF 105 million.
The market environment, which is characterized by inflation and rising interest rates, is challenging, it said. In particular, the sharp decline in the share price of the French payment services provider Worldline, in which SIX holds a 10.5% stake, is a burden. There will be a value adjustment of around CHF 860 million in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Spanish stock market suffers from interest rates and low trading
In addition, the "goodwill" in the books for Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) has been adjusted downwards by CHF 340 million. This is due to higher discount rates and lower trading volumes.
In technical jargon, goodwill refers to the difference between the selling price for a company and the net asset value determined for accounting purposes. SIX acquired BME in 2020 for around EUR 2.6 billion.
Operationally, however, the Group is doing well, it said. For 2023 as a whole, SIX expects currency-adjusted revenue growth of around 3%. Operating profit EBITDA is expected to increase by 6 to 7 percent adjusted for currency effects.
Nevertheless, more dividend
In addition, SIX is strongly capitalized. Despite the high loss, it is therefore planning to distribute a slightly higher dividend for the 2023 financial year than in the previous year. For 2022, shareholders - around 120 financial institutions - received CHF 5.10 per share.
The financial infrastructure service provider plans to announce its detailed annual results on March 13, 2024.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic