Euronext's Q3 growth was 25% reported and 18% like for like: where the difference matters

Euronext's third-quarter 2026 figures present two very different measurements of what looks like the same company. Its consolidated revenue and income increased 24.9%, from €438.1 million to €547.4 million. On a like-for-like, constant-currency basis, the exchange group says growth was 17.6%. The 7.3-percentage-point difference is not a rounding problem or an accusation of misleading reporting. It is the consequence of comparing the reported group, whose perimeter changed, with a measure designed to put periods and currency assumptions on a more consistent footing. For a broker or market-data buyer evaluating an exchange group, the distinction is material.[1][2]

FXBrokers.ai examined Euronext's reported and like-for-like tables alongside the underlying venue activity. The difference between the two measures varies substantially among the group’s operations. Fixed-income trading and clearing revenue grew 56.2% as reported and 56.1% like for like, almost the same result. Cash equity trading and clearing rose 34.3% as reported but only 16.6% on the adjusted basis, a much larger change in interpretation. FX trading revenue rose 19.6% reported and 17.8% like for like. The group average combines very different contributions from business expansion and consolidation effects.[1][2]

Euronext Athens, acquired in November 2025, changed the perimeter of the comparison. The company presents a like-for-like, constant-currency series alongside reported growth. The 7.3-percentage-point difference between the group rates combines the effects addressed by those adjustments; it is not a separately disclosed euro amount attributable entirely to Athens. Both measures are legitimate when their basis is clear.[1]

How the revenue bridge changes by business line

The reported euro increase is €109.3 million, calculated by subtracting the prior-year €438.1 million from this year's €547.4 million. On the reported business-line breakdown, FICC markets generated €121.3 million compared with €81.9 million, an increase of €39.4 million. Equity markets produced €124.6 million compared with €93.7 million, adding €30.9 million. Capital Markets and Data Solutions added €23.8 million, from €168.4 million to €192.2 million. Securities Services added €9.4 million, from €77.3 million to €86.7 million. Net treasury income added €5.8 million, and the rounded residual is accounted for by a minor other-income change and line rounding. This is a decomposition of recognised revenue, not of gross market turnover.[1][2]

Those four main business lines represent different exposures. FICC includes fixed income, commodities and FX trading and clearing. Equity markets includes cash equity trading and clearing plus derivatives. Securities Services includes custody and settlement infrastructure. Capital Markets and Data Solutions combines issuance-related activity, data and technology solutions. A firm purchasing FX venue access should not treat the whole €109.3 million increase as the result of higher currency dealing volumes. The exchange collects income from multiple layers of the trading and post-trade chain, some related to executed volumes and others to listings, subscriptions or assets serviced.[1][2]

The equity figures illustrate the largest comparability challenge. Cash equity trading and clearing increased from €82.5 million to €110.8 million, up 34.3% reported. The same line rose 16.6% on Euronext's like-for-like, constant-currency presentation. That 17.7-percentage-point difference is far wider than for fixed income, where the spread is one-tenth of a point. It is therefore unsafe to apply a single group-wide organic-growth adjustment to every business line. The more a division is affected by a new exchange entity, perimeter change or comparative adjustment, the less informative unadjusted annual growth may be about the underlying rate of expansion.[1][2]

Cash-market average daily transaction value increased 21.8%, from €11.262 billion to €13.717 billion, and average daily transactions rose 12.0%, from about 2.459 million to 2.753 million. Those operating indicators have their own reporting perimeter. They cannot independently prove how much growth was organic without matching the venue coverage in both periods. The company's 16.6% like-for-like, constant-currency cash-equity revenue growth is the more appropriate disclosed measure for that question.[1]

Fixed income: the reported and adjusted stories converge

Fixed-income trading and clearing revenue reached €73.1 million versus €46.8 million a year earlier. The reported increase was 56.2%; the constant-currency like-for-like increase was 56.1%. The near-equality matters because it identifies a different economic mechanism from the equity growth: the line is not primarily explained by the change in the reporting perimeter captured in the adjusted comparison. Euronext's MTS business also recorded cash fixed-income average daily volume of approximately €88.05 billion compared with €48.817 billion, an 80.4% increase. It is an impressive activity comparison, but it is not precisely the same population as group fixed-income trading-and-clearing revenue.[1][2]

The FX currency mismatch

FX trading revenue was €8.9 million compared with €7.5 million. Euronext reports growth of 19.6% using its underlying amounts; the rounded displayed figures alone produce 18.7%. Separately, single-counted average daily FX volume increased 26.1%, from $24.066 billion to $30.339 billion. The gap between the company's reported growth rates is 6.5 percentage points, but it is not a directly measurable reduction in commissions.[1]

The first obstacle is that the numerator and denominator are in different currencies. FX revenue is reported in euros; FX traded notional is reported in US dollars. Translation rates and the timing of revenue recognition can influence the relationship even if all underlying fees were unchanged. The second obstacle is transaction and customer mix: more trading in instruments or on fee schedules with lower effective charges can expand notional faster than revenue. The third is whether the published revenue line and the published venue volume measure have fully identical business boundaries. None is settled by two headline growth percentages.[1][2]

A robust inference is therefore limited but useful. Euronext's FX trading platform handled more reported dollar notional in its third-quarter comparison, and the group recognised more euro revenue from FX trading. It is plausible that changed volume mix or pricing contributed to different growth rates, but the figures alone cannot isolate such a mechanism. Claims of exchange-wide fee compression or superior execution would need order- and contract-level evidence. This is particularly important when broker advertising treats “institutional liquidity” or aggregate exchange turnover as though it directly predicted a retail trader's executable spread.[1][2]

Clearing and custody make the group different from a pure exchange

Euronext’s Securities Services division added €9.4 million of revenue, with custody and settlement providing much of its income. The quarter includes separate operational indicators of €8.081 trillion in assets under custody compared with €7.653 trillion a year earlier, as well as a higher number of settlement instructions. Neither amount is the exchange group's own trading capital or assets available to satisfy a broker's default. Assets held in custody for clients are categorically different from Euronext revenue and its net treasury income. Confusing these figures would produce a financially meaningless scale comparison.[1][2]

The net treasury line also illustrates why an exchange group can grow without every product trading more. The reported €22.5 million of net treasury income, up from €16.7 million, reflects a separate economic process connected to balances and treasury management. A clearing member considering collateral, settlement and custody exposures should examine the legal service entity, safeguarding arrangements, rules and fee basis rather than generalising from group profitability. Euronext's consolidated financial result does not establish the financial position or risk of any one market participant.[1][2]

The company reported adjusted EBITDA of €364.2 million, up 31.6%, and an adjusted margin of 66.5%, compared with 63.2% a year ago. Like-for-like, constant-currency adjusted EBITDA increased 23.2%. Thus profit performance also looks different depending on the basis of comparison. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin is 3.3 percentage points on the reported basis; it should not be described as a 3.3% relative increase. Expenses and acquisitions affect the comparison, and EBITDA measures operating profitability before specified costs, not liquid resources or clearing collateral available to meet an unforeseen market obligation.[1][2]

What follows after the Athens acquisition

The comparisons leave three distinct questions for the next results. Does fixed-income growth persist on a comparable basis? Does cash-equity growth remain strong after acquisition effects are removed? And how do FX revenues respond to dollar-denominated trading volumes once currency and transaction mix are considered? Those questions require consistent definitions across periods, rather than selecting whichever group growth percentage is largest.[1]

Euronext's reported expansion was substantial, and its comparable growth was also positive. Their difference was almost immaterial in fixed income but much larger in cash equities. Reading the business-line disclosures together provides a more accurate picture of the group's trading exposure than treating its 24.9% headline as a uniform growth rate across all venues.[1]

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