The Board of Directors of The International Stock Exchange Group Limited (the “Company”) today issues an update on the Company’s recent trading and the outlook for the full year ending 31 December 2022.

Financial and Operational Highlights:

• Solid trading in the ten months ended 31 October 2022 despite the difficult macro-economic environment
• 777 securities admitted in the period (2021: 873 (1)) contributing to overall market growth of 9.7% year on year
• Interim dividend of 37p per share paid on 10 October 2022, taking the total returned to shareholders in 2022 to £7.9 million (£2.82 per share)

FY 2022 Outlook:

• Revenue in line with record FY 2021; basic EPS expected to be c.20% short of FY 2021
• Healthy pipeline of bond listings notwithstanding broader market uncertainty
• Potential investment in further diversification opportunities

Notes: (1) 10 months ended 31 October 2021

Performance and Listing Volumes

Despite the difficult macro-economic environment, the Group has continued to perform well during the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter, with 290 securities admitted to the Official List of The International Stock Exchange (TISE) between the start of July and the end of October this year. For the year to 31 October 2022, a total of 777 securities have been admitted to TISE’s Official List, which is a 11.0% decrease on the same period in the record breaking prior year. This took the total number of listed securities on TISE’s Official List to 3,937 at 31 October 2022.

FY 2022 Outlook

Based on the pipeline of bond listings, the Board currently expects revenue for the 2022 financial year to be in line with the prior year. Basic EPS for this year is expected to be c.20% short of the 2021 financial year as a result of planned investment into the strategy to diversify the business.

Markets, Products and Services 

Wider market uncertainty has dampened listing volumes, especially in products such as high yield bonds with greatest exposure to the broader debt capital markets. Excluding the impact of high yield bonds, listing volumes are only marginally lower than a record 2021. The resilience of M&A activity and the attractiveness of TISE’s core bond market proposition have supported a strong flow of bond listings on TISE.  

The qualifying asset holding companies (QAHC) regime, which was introduced in April 2022, has had no significant impact to date on Quoted Eurobond Exemption (QEE) related listings. The QEE route, combined with a listing on TISE, continues to provide issuers and their advisers with a cost-efficient and expeditious solution.

The short term macro-economic outlook remains tempered, and may subdue future listing volumes, but TISE’s Qualified Investor Bond Market (QIBM) is expected to remain an attractive proposition for bond listings despite this environment. Strategies are in place to not only mitigate against the worst effects of the downturn but also to capitalise on the return of favourable market conditions. The continued refinement of TISE’s bond listing offering, combined with the growth in international members, is facilitating greater diversification of product type and geographical origin of business.

Beyond existing core services, steps are being taken to further diversify revenue streams, for example we continue to explore the opportunity to launch our own offering within the private markets. In recent months we have developed our proposed market model and moved towards initiating a pilot project with a selected potential customer.

Anderson Whamond, Chair of the Company, said: “The Group has continued to perform well during the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter. There has been a good number of new listings so far this year and there is a healthy pipeline of bond listings for the coming months, despite the difficult macro-economic environment. Revenue is in line with what was a record-breaking year in 2021 and basic earnings per share for this year are expected to be around 20% short of the prior financial year as a result of planned investment into the strategy to diversify the business. Notwithstanding the ongoing market uncertainty, the Group is well-positioned for the future.”