Financial performance overview

Operating revenue grew by 51.3% YoY (to RUB 46.0 bln) due to the following factors: (1) fee and commission revenue growth (up 14.1% YoY) in the FX, Money and Bond Markets, (2) interest income growth due to higher interest rates, and (3) increased value of the securities portfolio.

27.9 RUB bln
▲ 74.1 % Net income

12.5 RUB
▲ 73.6 % Basic earnings per share

46.0 RUB bln
▲ 51.3 % Operating income

11.3 RUB bln
▲ 8.9 % Operating expenses

36.5 RUB bln
▲ 68.9 % EBITDA

79.4 %
▲ 8.3 п.п. The EBITDA margin

Equity & Bond Market

Fee and commission income in the Equity Market declined 7.0% YoY to RUB 1.64 bln. Total trading volumes in 2015 were RUB 9.40 trn, down 8.6% YoY. The Equity Market’s total capitalisation as of year-end 2015 was RUB 28.8 trn (USD 393.2 bln).

Fee and commission income from the Bond Market increased by 14.3% YoY to RUB 1.18 bln, mainly driven by solid primary placements. Issuance of government bonds (OFZs) grew by 359.3% YoY, while placements of corporate bonds set a new record of RUB 2.0 trn (up 5.2% YoY). Total trading volumes in 2015 reached RUB 11.2 trn, up 5.2% YoY. Listing and other services fees increased 28.6% to RUB 451.5 mln.

FX Market

Fee and commission income from the FX Market increased 27.0% YoY to RUB 4.3 bln. Trading volumes in the FX Market totalled RUB 310.8 trn, up 36.0% YoY. Due to elevated FX rate volatility, spot trading volumes rose 32.8% YoY, while swap trading volumes increased 37.6% YoY on the back of continued demand for liquidity-management products.

Money Market

Fee and commission income from the Money Market grew by a solid 19.8% YoY to RUB 3.9 bln thanks to an increase in average repo trades maturity from 5.0 to 6.6 days. Total trading volumes, including repo transactions and the deposit and credit market, grew 4.6% YoY to RUB 213.8 trn. Repo with the CCP continued to increase rapidly and grew 2.7 times YoY. Repo with the CCP accounted for 36.9% of total repo transactions (RUB 78.9 trn).

Derivatives Market

Fee and commission income from the Derivatives Market declined by 10.1% YoY to RUB 1.5 bln. Trading volumes in contract terms increased 17.4% YoY and amounted to 1.7 bln contracts with a total value of RUB 93.7 trn, largely driven by FX derivatives. Open interest reached RUB 590.0 bln as of year-end 2015, a 29.0% YoY increase.

Depository and Settlement Services

Fee and commission income from depository and settlement services increased 8.7% to RUB 3.5 bln. The volume of assets on deposit at the NSD increased to RUB 31.69 trn as of 31 December 2015 from RUB 24.94 trn at the end of 2014, and averaged RUB 29.08 trn for 2015.

Other Fee and Commission Income

Other fees and commissions increased by 41.9% and amounted to RUB 1.37 bln. The biggest contributors to this line were revenue from the sale of market data and information services (RUB 688.4 mln, up 57.8%), and revenue from the sale of software and technical services (RUB 526.7 mln, up 6.2%).

Interest and Other Financial Income

Interest and other finance income increased 96.7% YoY to RUB 28.1 bln due to a significant increase in funds available for investment (daily average of RUB 1.1 trn in 2015 compared to RUB 700 bln in 2014) and higher interest rates in Russia.

Expenses

Operating expenses grew by 8.7% YoY to 11.3 bln in 2015. Strict expenses control allowed the Moscow Exchange to maintain the expenses growth at the level below inflation for the third year running. Operating expenses grew by 8.7% YoY to 11.3 bln in 2015, well below the Russian inflation rate. Administrative and other expenses grew by 10.3% YoY to RUB 5.5 bln, mostly due to growth in amortisation of intangible assets and equipment and maintenance of intangible assets.Personnel expenses grew by 7.2% YoY to RUB 5.8 bln in 2015. CAPEX in 2015 was RUB 2.5 bln, including RUB 2.1 bln for the purchase, development and upgrading of hardware and software.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Moscow Exchange’s cash position Cash position is calculated as the sum of cash and cash equivalents due from financial institutions, investments available for sale and financial assets at fair value minus balances of market participants, distributions payable to holders of securities and loans payable.at year-end 2015 amounted to RUB 79.0 bln. The Exchange had no debt as of 31 December 2015. Higher trading volumes on the FX, Bonds and Money Markets, as well as increased interest income coupled with strict cost control, helped the Exchange to deliver record financial results.