FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After the slump in trading business, online broker Flatexdegiro is benefiting from increased interest rates, of all things. Although the company's customers still traded less in stocks, bonds and ETFs in the summer than a year earlier. But the increased interest rates let turnover and operating profit of the company in the high. On the stock market, the news went down well: The Flatexdegiro share gained more than eleven percent at times on Wednesday morning.

This made the share the clear leader in the SDax small cap index and it was traded at its highest price since July. At midday, the share price was still up more than ten percent at 9.468 euros, around one and a half times the price at the turn of the year. However, the share remains a long way from its record high of 29.70 euros in July 2021.

During the Corona pandemic, many people had discovered online trading in shares and other securities for themselves and gave the Flatexdegiro share a high. However, the hype was soon over again. When the company's business slumped in the face of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and sharply rising interest rates, the share price took a steep downward turn in 2022.

In the meantime, however, Flatexdegiro has also benefited from higher interest rates. The company achieved its most profitable quarter since the hype two and a half years ago in a difficult environment, said CEO Frank Niehage when presenting the figures on Tuesday evening in Frankfurt. Flatexdegiro also gained more customers: Between the end of June and the end of September, the number of customer accounts rose from 2.56 to 2.63 million.

Although the broker still processed nine percent fewer transactions in the third quarter than a year earlier. And the increase in average revenue per transaction from 3.99 to 4.26 euros did not prevent total commission income from falling by four percent to around 59 million euros. However, interest income jumped by more than 160 percent to a good 38 million euros. And adjusted sales subsequently increased by 29 percent to a good 101 million euros.

This also benefited day-to-day profits: adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted Ebitda) grew by as much as 70 percent to around 41 million euros. As a result, the corresponding operating margin (adjusted Ebitda margin) improved from 30.8 to 40.6 percent. For the fourth quarter, management predicted a further increase in the margin.

For the full year, Flatexdegiro has so far targeted adjusted revenues of around 380 million euros and an adjusted operating margin of more than 40 percent. In the adjusted key figures, the company excludes effects from share-based payments for its employees, for which it must form provisions or release them depending on the development of the share price.

Following a special audit by German financial regulator Bafin around a year ago, Flatexdegiro has since freed itself from stricter requirements for its lending business. Bafin had criticized the Degiro division for valuing collateralized securities loans to customers at zero risk. The company therefore had to adjust its methods and hold more capital. At the end of September, the broker reported that Degiro would be allowed to use the credit mitigation techniques again. As a result of this, the capital requirements are decreasing again, Flatexdegiro has about 100 million euros more capital than necessary./stw/mne/jha/