FLOW TRADERS REPORTS BEST QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE TO DATE, CONFIRMING THE BUSINESS MODEL

FLOW TRADERS REPORTS BEST QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE TO DATE, CONFIRMING THE BUSINESS MODEL

Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Flow Traders N.V. (Euronext: FLOW) today released its unaudited 1Q18 trading update. The highlights for the period are as follows: 

• Best quarterly trading results (NTI) to date, with strong performance across all regions;
• NTI increased to €213.2 million in 1Q18, against €39.3 million in 4Q17 and €48.3 million in 1Q17;
• Flow Traders' ETP Value Traded grew 49% Q-o-Q, while the Market ETP Value Traded grew
  38% Q-o-Q, showing market share gains across all regions;
• Fixed costs fell 2% Q-o-Q, as Flow Traders continued to operate cost-consciously;
• EBITDA margin 1Q18 was 63% compared to 34% in 4Q17;
• Net Profit grew to €109.7 million, resulting in an EPS of €2.36;
• Under the CRR capital requirement regulation, Flow Traders' own funds requirement as at 31 March 2018 was €151 million, resulting in excess capital of €183 million;
• Dividend policy remains unchanged, Flow Traders targets to pay out at least 50% of its net profit;
• Flow Traders remains the leading market maker in ETPs in EMEA;
• Flow Traders' FTEs grew 4% Q-o-Q to 411 as at 31 March 2018.

Overview consolidated Quarterly results Flow Traders

Current Trading and Outlook

Market dynamics in the first quarter of 2018 caused volumes traded in the market to increase significantly and assets under management growth to stabilize overall. The strong growth trend witnessed in the ETP industry in 2017 is expected to continue in 2018 and beyond. The shift in assets from actively managed funds towards passive investments continues to drive ETP growth across all asset classes. Regulation such as MiFID II has improved transparency and levelled the playing field, which has already yielded benefits for the ETP market.

Flow Traders will continue to focus on growing its ETP liquidity providing activities and rolling out its growth initiatives. FX trading, US off-exchange trading and the growth strategy in APAC are expected to further support the Company's performance in 2018 and beyond.

Management Board Statements

Co-CEO Dennis Dijkstra stated:
"On top of favourable market conditions, our performance in 1Q18 is a direct result of the investments made in the past and the focus Flow Traders has had over the past years. Flow Traders grew its traded volumes this quarter, benefitting from improved market conditions. Furthermore our increased scale has begun to bear fruit. Looking at CRR and MiFID II, these developments have not limited Flow Traders in its abilities to grow. The first impact of MiFID II on the ETP market seems beneficial to us, as we have seen an increase in volumes traded on MTFs that we are connected to. Nevertheless, the implementation of MiFID II and subsequent developments keep impacting market structure, as legislators seek a level playing field in European markets. In addition, we managed to comply with the requirements under the CRR capital regulation on the first reporting date, 31 March 2018. Following the Dutch Central Bank's announcement in November 2017 our implementation of the CRR capital requirements has been managed very well within a short period by our Risk and Finance departments. The results we have witnessed in 2018 so far are a confirmation of our business model, and we will continue to build on the strong foundations and further leverage our leading position."

Co-CEO Sjoerd Rietberg added:
"Taking a closer look at our performance, Flow Traders' NTI delivered a sharply better performance compared to 3Q15, when we realized our previous record quarter. Market activity was much more concentrated in 1Q18 than in 3Q15, nevertheless Flow Traders managed to realise a sharp NTI increase, confirming the continued success of our investments in trading technology and people. Going forward we will also inform the market about flows traded outside ETPs, as we further diversify our liquidity providing activities into asset classes like currencies. This means that revenue capture in ETPs as a metric is becoming less meaningful. We will continue to focus on maximizing our NTI growth from ETPs and other asset classes."

CFO Marcel Jongmans commented:
"As we stated last year, Flow Traders has found the right balance between growing our firm and controlling our cost base. The strong performance in 1Q18 was achieved without major cost increases. Flow Traders was occupied with several important projects in 1Q18, like the CRR capital requirements and the employee participation plan. As the results demonstrate, we comfortably meet the regulatory required capital levels under CRR per 31 March 2018. As a result, we reiterate our dividend policy and look forward to the new IFR/IFD regulations, expected to be implemented through 2020. Furthermore, the treatment of Flow Traders' employee participation plan under IFRS has an impact on the reported variable cash component in the P & L statement. Looking forward, Flow Traders will be able to continue optimizing its NTI and returns for its shareholders in 2018 and beyond."

Consolidated simplified P&L

Financial Calendar 2018

26 April 2018                      AGM Flow Traders
30 April 2018                      Proposed Ex-dividend date final dividend FY17
02 May 2018                       Proposed Record date final dividend FY17
04 May 2018                       Proposed Payment date final dividend FY17
29 June 2018                       Start Silent Period ahead of 1H18 results
27 July 2018                        Release 1H18 Results
08 August 2018                   Ex-dividend date interim dividend FY18 (if any)
09 August 2018                   Record date interim dividend FY18 (if any)
13 August 2018                   Payment date interim dividend FY18 (if any)
27 September 2018           Start Silent Period ahead of 3Q18 trading update
18 October 2018                Release 3Q18 trading update

Starting 2018, Flow Traders has moved to interim reporting. This means that Flow Traders will release a trading statement in the first and third quarters of each financial year going forward, unless market developments require otherwise. More elaborate Half Year and Full Year reports will be released as done in the past. Flow Traders remains committed to the highest level of disclosure and engagement with its stakeholders.

Analyst Conference Call and Webcast

The analyst conference call on the results will be held at 10:00 am Amsterdam Time on Tuesday 24 April 2018. The presentation will also be accessible via www.flowtraders.com/investors, where the presentation can be downloaded and the conference call can be followed via a listen-only audio webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available on the company website for at least 90 days.

Contact Details

Flow Traders N.V.
Serge Enneman / Manager Investor Relations
Phone:   +31 20 7996799
Email:     [email protected]

Important legal information

This press release is prepared by Flow Traders N.V. and is for information purposes only. It is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and you must not rely on the content of this document when making any investment decisions. The information in this document does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice and is not to be regarded as investor marketing or marketing of any security or financial instrument, or as an offer to buy or sell, or as a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, securities or financial instruments.

The information and materials contained in this press release are provided 'as is' and Flow Traders N.V. or any of its affiliates ("Flow Traders") do not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of the information and materials and expressly disclaim liability for any errors or omissions. This press release is not intended to be, and shall not constitute in any way a binding or legal agreement, or impose any legal obligation on Flow Traders. All intellectual property rights, including trademarks, are those of their respective owners. All rights reserved. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Flow Traders. No part of it may be redistributed or reproduced without the prior written permission of Flow Traders.

This press release may include forward-looking statements, which are based on Flow Traders' current expectations and projections about future events, and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "believe", "could", "hope", "seek", "plan", "foresee", "aim", "objective", "potential", "goal" "strategy", "target", "continue" and similar expressions or their negatives are used to identify these forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of Flow Traders. Such factors may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no undue reliance should be placed on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as at the date at which they are made. Flow Traders expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law.

Financial objectives are internal objectives of Flow Traders to measure its operational performance and should not be read as indicating that Flow Traders is targeting such metrics for any particular fiscal year. Flow Traders' ability to achieve these financial objectives is inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond Flow Traders' control, and upon assumptions with respect to future business decisions that are subject to change. As a result, Flow Traders' actual results may vary from these financial objectives, and those variations may be material.

Efficiencies are net, before tax and on a run-rate basis, i.e. taking into account the full-year impact of any measure to be undertaken before the end of the period mentioned. The expected operating efficiencies and cost savings were prepared on the basis of a number of assumptions, projections and estimates, many of which depend on factors that are beyond Flow Traders' control. These assumptions, projections and estimates are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and actual results may differ, perhaps materially, from those projected. Flow Traders cannot provide any assurance that these assumptions are correct and that these projections and estimates will reflect Flow Traders' actual results of operations.

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Market Abuse Regulation

This press release contains information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.