LMAX Exchange Posts Record Growth for 2017 as Gross Profit Hits £25m

Tuesday, 08/05/2018 | 07:51 GMT by Victor Golovtchenko
  • Increased institutional clients demand drives further growth at London-based LMAX Exchange
LMAX Exchange Posts Record Growth for 2017 as Gross Profit Hits £25m
FM

LMAX Exchange has just reported on the outcome of 2017 for the company. The firm posted multiple records last year as institutional clients demand continued to drive trading volumes higher.

Annual volumes from the institutional clients of LMAX Exchange increased 58 percent year-on-year, reflecting an increased number of clients globally. The company posted an EBITDA of 8.8 million pounds ($12 million), a figure which is higher by 58 percent when compared to a year ago.

LMAX Exchange’s gross profit for the year was 25.4 million pounds ($34.4 million), up 22 percent year-on-year. The firm posted massive gains across its facilities in New York and Tokyo. Trades executed via the NY4 matching engine increased fivefold when compared to the previous year, while activity on the TY3 location spiked threefold.

Solid Metrics in Recent Years

Two-year (2015-2017) annually compounded growth results demonstrate EBITDA growth of 151 percent annually, gross profit at about 28 percent annually and notional volumes at about 20 percent annually.

Commenting on the company’s results the CEO of LMAX Exchange, David Mercer, said: “Our results demonstrate the increasing appeal of order-driven firm Liquidity for trading institutions and the growing focus on precision and certainty of execution. LMAX Exchange has built a leading institutional exchange for FX trading and we are proud to count over 300 large funds and brokers in our global institutional client base, and all major global banks and non-banks among our 25 Liquidity Providers .”

“As an established, independent business, gaining significant traction year on year, we are in an exceptionally good position to drive further growth in client funds and trading volumes. We will continue to fulfill our ambition of capturing a larger share of the institutional market as we propagate the exchange model globally,” Mercer elaborated.

2017 Recap

Last year LMAX Exchange opened an institutional sales hub in Singapore and strengthened its sales coverage with multiple senior appointments in the Asia Pacific and North America regions. LMAX Exchange now has offices in London, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Auckland and matching engines in all major FX centers.

Regulatory compliance: A significant project for LMAX Exchange in 2017 was the separation of its brokerage business into a newly FCA regulated entity, LMAX Global, to comply with MiFID II. This was completed successfully in December 2017.

David Mercer commented: “The Company expects strong revenue growth to continue and its market share to increase further in 2018. We are witnessing continued focus on governance and regulatory changes driving more FX trading onto regulated exchanges like LMAX Exchange. These developments are commensurate with the Company’s vision of transforming global FX trading into a fairer and more transparent market place.”

LMAX Exchange strongly committed to the FX Global Code of Conduct and has welcomed its intention to restore trust in the FX industry. The firm continued to campaign for the next iterations of the code to take a stricter stance regarding the practice of ‘last look’ and pre-hedging during the ‘last look’ window.

LMAX Exchange has just reported on the outcome of 2017 for the company. The firm posted multiple records last year as institutional clients demand continued to drive trading volumes higher.

Annual volumes from the institutional clients of LMAX Exchange increased 58 percent year-on-year, reflecting an increased number of clients globally. The company posted an EBITDA of 8.8 million pounds ($12 million), a figure which is higher by 58 percent when compared to a year ago.

LMAX Exchange’s gross profit for the year was 25.4 million pounds ($34.4 million), up 22 percent year-on-year. The firm posted massive gains across its facilities in New York and Tokyo. Trades executed via the NY4 matching engine increased fivefold when compared to the previous year, while activity on the TY3 location spiked threefold.

Solid Metrics in Recent Years

Two-year (2015-2017) annually compounded growth results demonstrate EBITDA growth of 151 percent annually, gross profit at about 28 percent annually and notional volumes at about 20 percent annually.

Commenting on the company’s results the CEO of LMAX Exchange, David Mercer, said: “Our results demonstrate the increasing appeal of order-driven firm Liquidity for trading institutions and the growing focus on precision and certainty of execution. LMAX Exchange has built a leading institutional exchange for FX trading and we are proud to count over 300 large funds and brokers in our global institutional client base, and all major global banks and non-banks among our 25 Liquidity Providers .”

“As an established, independent business, gaining significant traction year on year, we are in an exceptionally good position to drive further growth in client funds and trading volumes. We will continue to fulfill our ambition of capturing a larger share of the institutional market as we propagate the exchange model globally,” Mercer elaborated.

2017 Recap

Last year LMAX Exchange opened an institutional sales hub in Singapore and strengthened its sales coverage with multiple senior appointments in the Asia Pacific and North America regions. LMAX Exchange now has offices in London, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Auckland and matching engines in all major FX centers.

Regulatory compliance: A significant project for LMAX Exchange in 2017 was the separation of its brokerage business into a newly FCA regulated entity, LMAX Global, to comply with MiFID II. This was completed successfully in December 2017.

David Mercer commented: “The Company expects strong revenue growth to continue and its market share to increase further in 2018. We are witnessing continued focus on governance and regulatory changes driving more FX trading onto regulated exchanges like LMAX Exchange. These developments are commensurate with the Company’s vision of transforming global FX trading into a fairer and more transparent market place.”

LMAX Exchange strongly committed to the FX Global Code of Conduct and has welcomed its intention to restore trust in the FX industry. The firm continued to campaign for the next iterations of the code to take a stricter stance regarding the practice of ‘last look’ and pre-hedging during the ‘last look’ window.

About the Author: Victor Golovtchenko
Victor Golovtchenko
  • 3424 Articles
  • 25 Followers
About the Author: Victor Golovtchenko
Victor Golovtchenko: Key voice in crypto and FX, providing cutting-edge market analysis.
  • 3424 Articles
  • 25 Followers

More from the Author

Institutional FX

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|} !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{|}