2006 business review

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Total Group turnover came to €184.8m in 2006, an increase of 3% on 2005. Excluding Fermat, where the 25% drop in turnover was expected, organic growth on a like-for-like basis (i.e. excluding Emos and Nyfix Overseas) was 4%.

The acquisitions of Emos and Nyfix Overseas in the second half of the year added turnover of €5.6m, or 3% of the consolidated total.

Front Office: a return to growth

Asia continues to drive growth

The Asia region again generated growth of more than 10% from distribution of our trading systems. Notable successes included moves into the Chinese and Thai markets and development of market access throughout the region. Turnover from Buy Side clients grew very strongly, gaining 19% as more than 500 dedicated screens were installed in South East Asia. In Japan we gained 7 new clients in 2006, including a local «Tier One» client, and now have 65 institutions using our services.

A good year for GL TRADE Americas

GL TRADE Americas now has over 175 clients and nearly 80 staff. The Trading Solutions product line represented 75% of turnover in the Americas, and enjoyed growth of 7%. This performance reflects the positive response to our multi-market solution in American markets. Key contracts were signed with big names in both the equities and the derivatives fields in 2006 and these will have their full impact on 2007 turnover.

The acquisition of Nyfix Overseas mid-way through the year has already produced some attractive commercial opportunities, notably in Chicago, where we will also benefit from the successful launch of GL Workstation Derivatives.

Consolidating our position in Europe

2006 was a good year in Continental Europe, where turnover grew by 4.6% overall. In Italy, where GL TRADE has nearly 70% of the market, we saw growth in trading systems of more than 7%.

After several tough years in Germany we started to gain market share from our local competitors and saw a return to growth.

Our expansion in Central Europe continued with some good gains in the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic states. Russia remains a promising area for expansion and we have established ourselves as a major player in this market.

We also won some substantial recurrent contracts with major Spanish institutions in the areas of MiFID and OMS.

Lastly, GL TRADE has now established a presence in Turkey, participating in supplying five of the market’s leading companies.

After a number of difficult years we stabilized our turnover from trading solutions in London thanks to our new offerings in Client Connectivity, whether for trading screens or ASP market access. The acquisition of Nyfix Overseas in September has considerably improved our presence in the UK, which is a priority market for our growth over the next few years.

Turnover stabilizes in France

The strong performance in Buy Side solutions (up 3.5%) and order management systems enabled us to consolidate turnover levels in our historical core business in France.

GL TRADE has also established a position as an expert in implementing solutions for the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), which imposes new constraints on our clients (internationalization of orders, best execution, reporting). The group is an active member of the MiFID Joint Working Group and has created dedicated teams for the development and distribution of specially tailored solutions. The functional scope of our solutions means that we can build a position as a supplier of global MiFID-compliant solutions.

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