Euronext targets €8m of cost cuts in Ireland
IRISH Stock Exchange owner Euronext aims to make cost savings of €8m at its new Irish arm, but has no plans to cut the staff numbers further.
The savings planned are up from €6m in anticipated synergies when the Irish Stock Exchange agreed a sale to Euronext for €137m a year ago.
Half the expected savings will come through the agreed early termination of a trading services contract provided by Deutsche Börse to the Irish Stock Exchange and a move over to Euronext’s own Optiq service, Euronext said.
Speaking as the company unveiled its third-quarter results yesterday, Giorgio Modica, chief financial officer at Euronext, said a very small fraction of the €8m of savings had been achieved so far.
“You should expect the bulk of it coming in the next two to three quarters,” Mr Modica said.
“Conversely, when it comes to restructuring cost, around two-thirds of the restructuring costs have been already provisioned in the profit and loss account through exceptional items in the last quarters,” he added.
Earlier this year Euronext confirmed that the Paris-based company will cut around 20 jobs in Dublin, something that had been flagged at the time of the takeover.
However Mr Modica said yesterday that the drive for cost savings would not lead to any
further job losses in Ireland.
The company added that the integration of the Irish Stock Exchange was proceeding “according to plan”.
Commenting on reports that it is moving the settlement of Irish shares to Brussels postBrexit, Stéphane Boujnah, CEO of Euronext, said that the group has had “very productive” discussions with the market participants involved, as well as the Central Bank, and the Department of Finance
to build the most appropriate solution.
The objective of the dialogue is to maximise continuity and to minimise operational difficulties for the various users of settlement custody services, Mr Boujnah said. “We are confident that within a very short time frame we will be able to go public with a solution that makes everyone comfortable,” he added.
Euronext reported a 26pc increase in earnings before
interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation to €88m in the three months to 30 September. Group revenue rose 17pc year-on-year to €150.9m during the threemonth period. Dublin contributed €8.1m to revenue during the quarter.
The group reported listing revenue of €27.8m, up 37.6pc, driven by the consolidation of Euronext Dublin and incremental contribution from corporate services.