EEX Press Release - 2020 Financial Year: EEX Group

In 2020, EEX Group successfully continued its global growth path by increasing its sales revenues and achieving a new record result.

The Group's sales revenue increased by 5% to a record of EUR 320.1 million (2019: EUR 304.2 million). This performance was mainly driven by volume increases in the European power derivatives markets, the environmental markets in Europe and North America as well as the the global dry freight market. In addition to considerable growth in its core markets, EEX Group further extended its reach in Asia with the successful launch of Japanese Power Futures.

Peter Reitz, Chief Executive Officer, comments: '2020 was the most successful year in the history of EEX Group and a year in which we achieved many major milestones. We are proud to have further strengthened our global position and enhanced our product portfolio by building new markets, together with our customers. Most importantly, we were able to provide certainty to our trading community in a year of exceptional change.'

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 3% to EUR 101.1 million (2019: EUR 98.1 million), hitting a new record level and exceeding the threshold of EUR 100 million for the first time.

Anja Kiessling, Chief Financial Officer, adds: 'Our record financial results for the third year in a row do not only testify to the success of our core markets but also to the effective development of new market areas. We are particularly happy to see considerable growth in our dry freight business and our environmental products - confirming once more, our position as a global commodity exchange with a broad and diverse range of products.'

A record year for Power: EEX Group, Number 1 in Power trading, worldwide

In 2020, power trading remained the largest revenue contributor with the global volume increasing by 10% to 7,077 TWh, confirming EEX Group's position as the number one exchange in power trading worldwide. In Europe, a further milestone was achieved with volumes exceeding 4,000 TWh in a single year for the first time (4,736 TWh, +19%). Sales revenue generated in European Power Derivatives grew by 17% to EUR 108.9 million (2019: EUR 92.9), while the revenue on the power spot markets remained stable with EUR 72.7 million (2019: EUR 72.7 million). Sales revenue in the US commodity markets amounted to EUR 19.1 million (2019: EUR 20.4 million). Despite lower total volumes in the US Power market in 2020, Nodal Exchange was able to increase its market share to 37% and to gain more than 50% of Open Interest in US power futures trading for the first time.

In Europe, leading position confirmed in natural gas spot trading

The sales revenue generated in the Natural Gas segment totalled EUR 54.5 million which is almost on the same level as 2019 (EUR 55.1 million). In 2020, EEX Group reconfirmed its position as Europe's most liquid gas spot exchange, in a year where the total market decreased. In spot trading, EEX achieved record market shares in Austria (78%), Germany (64%), France (68%) and the Netherlands (60%). In particular, the Czech gas market developed successfully in 2020, increasing by 28% on the spot and by 53% on the futures market. In the United States, Nodal Exchange successfully established its presence in the US natural gas market with a total of 34 TWh traded. Overall, the global natural gas markets of EEX Group recorded a volume of 2,412 TWh (2019: 2,546 TWh).

Environmental markets: Double-digit volume growth in Europe and North America

The environmental markets of EEX Group showed volume increases both in the European and North American markets. The total volume in the European emissions market increased by 16%, resulting in a revenue growth of 10% to EUR 4.5 million (2019: EUR 4.1 million). The execution of the 2,000^th primary market auction in November marked a highlight for EEX in its function as the auction platform for the EU ETS. EEX was further re-appointed as the common EU auction platform for 30 European countries and successfully expanded global partnerships to further develop carbon trading schemes worldwide: following a successful tender with its partner NZX, both exchanges launched emissions auctions for the New Zealand government under the NZ ETS in March 2021. Trading volume in the US environmental markets grew by 15%.

Revenues from Registry services grew by 16% to EUR 7.5 (2019: EUR 6.5) with a record year for the Guarantees of Origin market: more than 1,590 TWh of GOs were moved in the registries of EEX Group last year, representing half of the total volume circulating in Europe.

Dry Freight ambitions become reality

2020 marked EEX Group's most successful year in Dry Freight to date, achieving a new annual volume record of 789,921 lots which is more than ten times the volume of 2019 (74,776 lots). In addition, the Group achieved a long held ambition by gaining the majority share of Open Interest in the global dry freight market. These positive developments resulted in a 546% increase in Global Commodities sales revenues which rose to EUR 3.8 million (2019: EUR 0.6 million).

Peter Reitz comments on EEX Group's results in 2020: 'It has been our goal to strengthen our global position and it will be our goal for the current year. We are happy to be on that journey together with our customers and partners and to continue doing what made 2020 so successful - building secure, transparent and sustainable markets together, across all time zones.'

More detailed information on the EEX Group results of the business year 2020 are available in the Annual Report.

EEX Group provides market platforms for energy and commodity products across the globe and connects a network of more than 750 trading participants. The group offers trading in power, natural gas, environmental products, freight, and agriculturals as well as clearing and registry services. EEX Group consists of European Energy Exchange (EEX), EPEX SPOT, EEX Asia, Power Exchange Central Europe (PXE) and Nodal Exchange as well as the registry provider Grexel Systems and software company KB Tech. Clearing is provided by EEX Group's clearing houses European Commodity Clearing (ECC) and Nodal Clear. EEX Group is based in 17 locations worldwide and is part of Deutsche Börse Group. More information: www.eex-group.com

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