Deutsche Börse (ETR:DB1) raised its full-year 2026 outlook after reporting broad-based growth in the second quarter and first half, with management pointing to resilient secular trends across its portfolio and a stabilizing treasury result.
Chief Executive Officer Stephan Leithner said the first half “exceeded our expectations on the treasury side” and confirmed the company’s “strong core growth trajectory,” supported by broad-based revenue growth and improving operating leverage. He said second-quarter activity normalized after elevated volatility in the first quarter, particularly in March, but the company still delivered growth against a strong prior-year period.
Full-Year Outlook Raised on Treasury Improvement
Chief Financial Officer Jens Schulte said Deutsche Börse is maintaining its core 2026 guidance of EUR 5.7 billion in net revenue and EUR 3.1 billion in EBITDA, both excluding treasury results. However, the company raised its expectations for treasury results, which are now expected to exceed EUR 0.7 billion, driven by a changed global interest-rate outlook and higher cash balances.
As a result, total net revenue is now expected to exceed EUR 6.4 billion, while all-in EBITDA is expected to exceed EUR 3.8 billion. Schulte said the company had delivered roughly half of its annual targets in the first half and is “tracking at the midpoint” of its full-year core targets.
The treasury result stabilized in the second quarter at EUR 205 million. Leithner said the treasury result declined by only 1% at the group level, confirming an inflection point the company had signaled earlier. In security services, Schulte noted the treasury result grew 3% year over year, its first increase since the fourth quarter of 2023, supported by higher cash balances and stabilizing interest rates.
Security Services, Derivatives and Fund Services Drive Growth
Management highlighted security services, financial derivatives and fund services as the strongest contributors in the first half, each delivering mid-teens net revenue growth, mainly due to structural drivers.
In security services, net revenue excluding treasury results rose 16% in the second quarter, while EBITDA excluding treasury results increased 27%. Schulte said assets under custody reached EUR 17 trillion, up 8%, driven mainly by international debt issuance. Settlement activity rose 14%, supported by elevated retail flows, and collateral management outstandings crossed EUR 1 trillion for the first time, up 31% year over year.
During the question-and-answer session, management said the custody margin development was sustainable and reflected scaling benefits. Schulte added that stronger collateral management growth can lift the average revenue margin within the custody line item, while standalone custody revenue margins were stable to slightly improving.
Trading and clearing net revenue excluding treasury results rose 7%, while EBITDA excluding treasury results increased 11%. Financial derivatives were again a standout, with net revenue up 15%. Fixed income derivatives net revenue grew 27%, and OTC clearing net revenue rose 49%, driven by higher volumes, active account requirements beginning to translate into activity, and improvements in revenue quality.
Schulte said the onboarded OTC clearing client base has grown to more than 2,500, while active clients have roughly doubled to about 500 over the past 18 months. He said that with 80% of onboarded clients not yet active, there remains “significant room to grow.”
Repo net revenue increased 41%, with outstandings reaching a record EUR 1.4 trillion. Cash equities trading net revenue rose 9%, supported by demand for European equities and ETFs, as well as continued retail participation. FX and digital assets grew 8% through client wins, despite normalized FX market conditions after first-quarter currency volatility.
Fund services net revenue excluding treasury results rose 14%, while EBITDA excluding treasury results increased 20%. Fund processing revenue climbed 19%, supported by record assets under custody of EUR 5 trillion, up 25% year over year, and settlement activity up 23%. Schulte said the business is benefiting from outsourcing in fund administration and the shift toward capital markets-based retirement savings in Europe.
Commodities Normalize After Strong First Quarter
Commodities activity normalized in the second quarter following exceptional first-quarter performance. Schulte said European power derivatives activity moderated after a surge in gas derivatives and power market activity earlier in the year. He cited easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East, reduced risk exposure by some financially driven participants and the lingering impact of higher collateral requirements as headwinds.
Management said the long-term drivers of the commodities business remain intact, including electrification, data center demand, the energy transition, migration of over-the-counter activity onto exchanges and Deutsche Börse’s expanding global footprint. In response to an analyst question, Schulte described the second quarter as an “exceptional normalization” and said the company expects conditions to normalize through the rest of the year.
Investment Management Solutions Shows Mixed Trends
In investment management solutions, software solutions net revenue grew 7% to EUR 180 million. Schulte said the result came against a demanding comparison base, as the second quarter of 2025 included a significant Tier 1 U.S. client win. He also said a Tier 1 EMEA client expansion moved from the second quarter into the third quarter and is expected to close shortly.
Annual recurring revenue in software solutions rose 14% in constant currency to EUR 717 million. Schulte said growth in 2026 is broader based than in 2025, with incremental ARR spread across a wider range of land-and-expand deals. The Americas delivered 25% ARR growth, while Asia-Pacific grew 20%.
SaaS net revenue rose 4% in the quarter, while on-premise net revenue increased 21%, boosted by what Schulte described as an unusually strong renewal cycle. In response to analyst questions, management said the strategic focus remains on growing SaaS, while on-premise revenue is expected to decline as a share of the mix over time. Leithner said AI capabilities could further accelerate the SaaS shift because many AI tools are tied to the cloud-based SimCorp One platform.
ESG-related businesses continued to face headwinds from subdued demand, particularly in market intelligence and corporate solutions. Schulte said the political and legal environment around ESG-related services in some U.S. states remains difficult and led to a modest increase in legal costs, though the company expects to manage those costs within its overall guidance. ESG ratings and data remained stable, while Index revenue grew 7%, supported by record ETF assets under management.
Strategic Focus on Europe, Digital Assets and Capital Returns
Leithner said Deutsche Börse continues to see a constructive long-term environment for European capital markets, citing German pension reforms, the European Savings and Investment Union, the E6 initiative and the European Commission’s market integration and supervision package. He said these initiatives could support deeper capital markets, stronger market infrastructure, retail participation and more efficient financing of the real economy.
The company also highlighted progress in digital assets and tokenization. Leithner said Clearstream’s next-generation digital securities infrastructure was unveiled during the quarter and is designed to support issuance, settlement, custody and servicing of digital securities in a regulated environment. He pointed to a tokenized commercial paper issuance by the European Investment Bank through Deutsche Börse’s digital infrastructure as a real transaction that passed through issuance, settlement and custody.
Deutsche Börse completed its EUR 500 million share buyback program during the quarter. Leithner said buybacks are now an established part of the company’s capital return framework, complementing its progressive dividend policy.
Schulte said operating costs rose 4% in the first half, including about EUR 20 million of exceptional costs related to the Allfunds acquisition. Excluding those costs, underlying operating cost growth was in line with guidance. Net profit attributable to Deutsche Börse shareholders increased 12% to EUR 1.2 billion, and cash earnings per share rose 12% to EUR 6.73.
About Deutsche Börse (ETR:DB1)
Deutsche Börse AG operates as an exchange organization in Europe, America, and the Asia-Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Data & Analytics; Trading & Clearing; Fund Services; and Securities Services. It engages in the trading of derivatives, electricity and gas products, emission rights, foreign exchange, and commodity products; operating EEX and 360T over the counter trading platform for financial instruments, such as foreign exchange, money market, and interest rate products; and operating as a central counterparty.
