26 February 2021

Aquis Exchange PLC

("Aquis" or the "Company")

Trading and Operational Update

Aquis Exchange PLC (AQX.L), the exchange services group, is pleased to announce a trading update for the 12 months to 31 December 2020, and an operational update on recent developments across its three divisions.

Trading update

In its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2020, the Company anticipates reporting revenues of no less than £11.0m, marginally ahead of market expectations. In addition, the Company expects to deliver its maiden full year pre and post-tax profit, a performance ahead of market expectations.

Revenue growth has been driven in part by continued high levels of trading on Aquis Exchange alongside strong technology sales, with a number of clients having renewed licensing contracts at the end of the year, and a growth in data revenues.

Aquis Exchange, the Company's pan-European equities trading business

The Company's pan-European equities trading business is executed across its two trading venues, London and Paris, in order to facilitate the trading of EU-listed shares. Since 4 January 2021, Aquis has seen 99% of its continuous European share trading move across to its Paris venue and the Company is pleased to report a smooth transition following Brexit. Service has remained constant for its clients, and Aquis continues to provide the greatest depth of available liquidity amongst its peers.   

Following the UK government's agreement on equivalence with Switzerland, the Company resumed trading in Swiss shares on 4 February 2021. The shares traded on Aquis Exchange's London venue include some 130 key Swiss listed companies including Novartis, Roche and Nestlé. 

Aquis Technologies, the Company's multi-asset class technology licensing service

Following on from the cloud deployment collaboration with the Singapore Exchange and Amazon Web Services announced on 20 November 2020, Aquis Technologies is building a pipeline of potential customers from across different asset classes and different geographies.

Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE), the Company's primary listings market for SMEs

Aquis is pleased to announce that Liberum, Panmure Gordon, Peel Hunt and Zeus Capital have joined Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) as corporate advisors, meaning these institutions are now able to prepare applications and assess the suitability of companies for admission to the AQSE Growth Market. This represents a further endorsement of the Company's aim to develop the exchange into the home of growth companies, and brings the total number of corporate advisers to AQSE to 28.

There is a strong IPO pipeline for 2021, including the listing of Samarkand Group. The cross-border eCommerce technology and retail group announced on 8 February its intention to float on AQSE, demonstrating our ability to compete with other UK exchanges in the IPO market. 

As part of its strategy to transform the UK listings space, Aquis has also been participating in the UK Listings Review chaired by Lord Hill. This review was launched in November 2020 by the Chancellor, as part of a plan to strengthen the UK's position as a leading global finance centre.

The Aquis Stock Exchange rulebook changes implemented in December 2020 have been operating in practice for a number of weeks, with new admissions to the Apex market required to publish a growth prospectus, facilitating private investor participation in Apex IPOs.

Alasdair Haynes, Chief Executive Officer of Aquis, commented:

"We have long been well-prepared for Brexit-related changes and are pleased to report the successful and seamless continuation of our operations in the UK and the transfer of our European trading business to the Paris office.  

Despite the continued pandemic-related restrictions seen across our markets, we continue to achieve substantial operational progress and have beaten market expectations. Looking forward to 2021, we remain confident in our ability to execute against our growth strategy."

This announcement contains inside information under UK MAR.

- Ends -

Enquiries:

Notes to editors:

Aquis Exchange PLC is an exchange services group, which operates pan-European cash equities trading businesses (Aquis Exchange), growth and regulated primary markets (Aquis Stock Exchange/AQSE) and develops/licenses exchange software to third parties (Aquis Technologies).

Aquis Exchange is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers to operate Multilateral Trading Facility businesses in the UK and in EU27 respectively. Aquis operates a lit order book and does not allow aggressive non-client proprietary trading, which has resulted in lower toxicity and signalling risk on Aquis than other trading venues in Europe. According to independent studies, trades on Aquis are less likely to lead to price movement than on other lit markets. Aquis uses a subscription pricing model which works by charging users according to the message traffic they generate, rather than a percentage of the value of each stock that they trade.

Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE) is a stock market providing primary and secondary markets for equity and debt products. It is authorised as a Recognised Investment Exchange, which allows it to operate a regulated listings venue. The AQSE Growth Market is divided into two segments 'Access' and 'Apex', with different levels of admission criteria. The Access market focuses on earlier stage growth companies, while Apex is the intended market for larger, more established businesses.

Aquis Technologies is the software and technology division of Aquis Exchange PLC. It creates and licenses cutting-edge, cost-effective matching engine and trade surveillance technology for banks, brokers, investment firms and exchanges.

Aquis Exchange PLC (AQX.L) is listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the LSE (AIM) market. For more information, please go to www.aquis.eu