Deutsche Boerse focuses on organic growth but remains open to acquisitions

Deutsche Boerse is focusing on organic growth but remains open to acquisitions, Chief Executive Reto Francioni said on Wednesday.

Photo: Deutsche Boerse focuses on organic growth but remains open to acquisitions

Deutsche Boerse focuses on organic growth but remains open to acquisitions

Deutsche Boerse is a marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities. It also is a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to global capital markets. It is a Joint stock company and was founded in 1992. The headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany.

German stock exchange operator beat all analysts' estimates with a 36 % increase in 2007 net profit to 912 million EUR ($1.34 billion).

Revenue at the group, which runs the Frankfurt stock exchange, derivatives market Eurex and settlement and custody house Clearstream, rose 18 % to 2.19 billion EUR.

Analysts said the report was solid but that the dividend -- 2.10 EUR per share, up from a stock-split-adjusted 1.70 EUR the year before -- was below projections.

"Deutsche Boerse reported strong results," Credit Suisse said in a research note, reiterating its "outperform" recommendation and target price of 155 EUR.

Boerse and rivals such as the U.S. exchanges NYSE and CME and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) saw strong volume growth in 2007, driven partly by more algorithmic trading and partly by higher volatility due to market upheaval sparked by the U.S. sub prime loans crisis.

Revenue and profit growth at some rivals have been driven by takeovers, notably NYSE's acquisition of European exchange Euronext and the LSE's purchase of Milan 's Borsa Italiana.

Boerse said buybacks of its own shares would resume "as soon as practicable" after its annual general meeting on May 21.

"Continuing past practice, Deutsche Boerse aims for a full distribution of profits to shareholders in 2008 through dividends and share buybacks, subject to rating requirements and financing needs for investment projects", it said.