Saxo Bank announces H1 2021 results

The Saxo Bank Group (the Group) reported a net profit of DKK 512 million for the first six months of 2021, compared to DKK 529 million for the same period last year. Operating income for the Saxo Bank Group amounted to DKK 2.4 billion for the first six months of 2021 compared to DKK 2.3 billion for the same period last year, an increase of 5%. The financial result is solid.

The Saxo Bank Group saw record levels of new active clients and continued inflows of clients’ assets in the first half of 2021. The Group reached a record of more than 790,000 clients and total clients' assets reached DKK 595 billion as of 30 June 2021.

Staff costs and administrative expenses for the Saxo Bank Group amounted to DKK 1.5 billion for the first six months of 2021, an increase of 10% compared to DKK 1.3 billion in the first half of 2020. The increase is primarily due to significant investments in strategic initiatives. The Group continues to deliver on its strategy execution plan by investing in constant improvement of the client experience, which is referred to as the SaxoExperience, by leveraging technology, digitisation, and scalability, while at the same time optimising our processes to reduce cost and complexity. During the second half of 2021, the Group will complete the successful integration of BinckBank N.V. The process has consumed a great deal of resources and produced more cost and complexity as the Group has temporarily been operating two parallel infrastructures and setups pending the full integration. 

H1 2021 key financial figures at a glance (H1 2020)

• Operating income: DKK 2.4 billion (DKK 2.3 billion H1 2020)
• EBITDA: DKK 963 million (DKK 967 million H1 2020)
• Profit before tax: DKK 693 million (DKK 704 million H1 2020)
• Net profit: DKK 512 million (DKK 529 million H1 2020)
• Total clients' assets: DKK 595 billion (DKK 395 billion as of 30 June 2020)
• Total equity: DKK 7,156 million (DKK 7,185 million as of 30 June 2020)

Commenting on the results, Kim Fournais, CEO and founder of Saxo Bank, said:

• The financial results for the first half of the year are solid with a total operating income of DKK 2.4 billion and a net profit of DKK 512 million. 
  
  
• As we look ahead, it is clear that we live in a world that is still seeing many uncertain and unprecedented experiments both financially, technologically, socially and health-wise. We are confident Saxo Bank is heading in the right strategic direction. We are building a prudent financial institution that is part of the solutions needed in the future and we remain committed to constantly improving the SaxoExperience, providing our clients with timely, relevant, and engaging content when using our platforms. In the second half of the year, we will have completed the BinckBank integration, which will be a major milestone for the Group.   
  
  
• During the first six months of the year, more than 159,000 new active clients opened an account with Saxo Bank - we are both proud and humbled that an increasing number of people continue to put their trust in us. As of June 30th, we service more than 790,000 clients and hold DKK 595 billion in clients’ assets, which is another record-breaking milestone in Saxo Bank’s 29-year history. It took 25 years to reach the DKK 100 billion milestone and then only 4 years to add an additional DKK 500 billion in clients’ assets. 
  
  
• As many countries now slowly transition to a more normal state of affairs, we continue to see an increased interest in investing from both experienced investors and the many individuals investing their savings for the first time. This marks an acceleration of a global trend in motion before the pandemic, of more people taking greater ownership and control of their savings and investments. This greater participation and empowerment of retail investors will continue to be a dominant market force for the foreseeable future. At Saxo Bank, we firmly believe it will be a force for good not only for society and the economy, but for the many people who are now better equipped to fulfill their financial aspirations while making an impact by investing based on their beliefs and values.  

Financial outlook for 2021

Due to the nature of the Saxo Bank Group’s activities, the forecast of trading related income is highly dependent on the volatility in both currency and stock markets as well as the interest rate levels. 

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, volatility in financial markets increased, which also led to increased trading activity among the Saxo Bank Group’s clients.

The revenues are expected to be lower in the second half of 2021 due to lower levels of volatility. 

The Group continues to invest heavily in the constant improvement of the SaxoExperience, including high levels of investments into technology, digitisation, and scalability. 

At the same time, the Group will complete the integration of BinckBank N.V. in the second half of 2021. The integration process consumes a great deal of resources and produces more cost and complexity as the Group temporarily operates two parallel infrastructures and setups pending the full integration. After the completion of the integration, all clients will be served on the Saxo Bank Group’s infrastructure and platforms.  

Furthermore, the Group continues to invest in developing and implementing its mainland China strategy. The operating cost for the final months of 2021 is subject to the successful execution of the integration plans for BinckBank N.V.

With that in mind and based on the result for first six months of 2021, the Saxo Bank Group now expects to end 2021 with a positive net profit in the range of DKK 650 - 800 million. The Group previously expected a net profit for the full year in the range of DKK 500 - 800 million as stated in the Annual Report 2020.