Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Dot, your conference call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Hellenic Exchanges Athens Stock Exchange conference call and live webcast to present and discuss the first quarter 2021 financial results. All participants will be in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on your telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Nikolaos Koskoletos, CFO, and Mr. Stelios Constantinou, Head of Investor Relations. Gentlemen, you may now proceed.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and good morning to those of you listening to us from the other side of the Atlantic. We would like to present the financial results of the group for the first quarter of 2021, which were published yesterday and are available in the IR section of our website, and then take any questions that you might have. Nik.
Thank you, Stelios, and my best to all participants. Some highlights about the performance of our market in terms of volumes. I think one standout is the fact that the average daily traded value dropped by 11.7% in the first quarter to EUR 75 million versus close to EUR 85 million in Q1 of 2020. The average market cap is slightly lower year-over-year, 2%. We had an increase in derivatives in terms of contracts, increased by 42%, 65,000 contracts compared to 38.7. If we examine the quarterly market performance over the past five quarters in terms of trading, we see obviously a strong quarter in Q1 2020, which was the best quarter of 2020 for that matter, and by far before the onset of the pandemic.
We went onto a weak Q2, even weaker Q3, and then we had a turnaround in the fourth quarter when trading activity returned to Q1 levels. Far this year, we have, as mentioned in Q1, EUR 75 million, but average daily trading values have increased, and we currently stand at over EUR 80 million and helped by a very strong month of May. Aside from the volumes and the trading activity, we are seeking on moving forward with regards to a series of actions and initiatives lined up that will feed into the strategic outline that we have mentioned in the past with regard to increasing the tradable assets of the business, expanding over the value chain in terms of servicing, and then how do we enlarge our footprint geographically in servicing other market infrastructures.
We also had the licensing of our subsidiary, ATHEXClear, under CSDR, that started post April 12th. That was the go live date and enables us to tap into additional services offered to the capital market and the corporate ecosystem, and those are things that we're working on. As Stelios will go into more detail in presenting our results, but at this point, I wanted to highlight a few things on my side. On ancillary services, I wish to stress the strategic importance of the ATHEXClear line as things mature more and more and revenue potential is being captured. In the past, we have mentioned that EnEx relationship, when mature, will yield close to EUR 1.8 million, and this is the case post Q4.
To all the existing items that we are working on, we are committed to adding more deliverables and working on finding additional opportunities along the strategic axes that I mentioned before. Just a few notes. We have our upcoming AGM at the end of the month. We have already made public with the announcement of our annual results, the recommendation for a EUR 0.07 dividend per share and then an additional EUR 0.07 as a capital return. The other thing we wanted to mention is that we are also bringing to the AGM a share buyback program, and this buyback program will be for purchases up to 10% of our share capital with a upper limit of, at this point, EUR 5 per share. At this point, I'd like to pass it on to Stelios to go through our Q1 performance in more detail. Stelios.
Thanks, Nik. Let's start our overview of our financial performance, as always, from the top. The consolidated turnover of the group in the first quarter of 2021 was EUR 8.4 million compared to EUR 8.2 million in the first quarter of last year, up 2.3%. If we break it down into the three revenue streams, we see that Trading-based revenue, i.e., from trading, clearing, and settlement, the first three lines from our P&L, that was down 12% as ADT dropped by 12% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of last year. Market-based revenue, i.e., exchange depository and clearing house relevant services, the second three lines in our P&L, was up 12.5%. Finally, revenue from ancillary services, which includes market data services for the Hellenic Energy Exchange, the Boursa Kuwait, and others, was up a strong 33%.
If we look at the six more most important revenue drivers, which together account for about 90% of total revenue, we see that revenue from clearing made up 30% of total turnover and amounted to EUR 2.53 million compared to EUR 2.86 million in the first quarter of last year. That's down 12%. The drop, as mentioned already, is due to lower trading activity in the cash market as revenue from the derivatives market was flat. Revenue from trading represents 16% of total consolidated turnover, and in the first quarter it was down as expected, 15% to EUR 1.36 million compared to EUR 1.61 million, again, on the back of lower trading activity in the cash market.
Now, as far as revenue from the derivatives market is concerned, both trading and clearing, in the first quarter of 2021, trading activity, i.e., the number of contracts, was up 42%, as mentioned already, while revenue was flat. That can only mean that the average revenue per contract was down. It was actually down 37% to EUR 0.172 per contract compared to EUR 0.249 per contract in the first quarter of 2020. As you know, pricing depends on the type of investor, the product being traded, and the prices of the underlying securities, and as a result, market volumes and our revenue do not always go hand in hand. Lastly, derivatives trading and clearing revenue in 2021 was flat at EUR 555,000 compared to EUR 558,000, corresponding to 14.3% of total trading and clearing revenue and 6.6% of total turnover.
Now moving on, revenue from exchange services makes up 11% of total turnover, and this line includes the quarterly subscription fees paid by listed companies, fees on rights issues and IPOs as well as fees paid by members, and that came in at EUR 885,000, up 12.5% compared to the first quarter of last year. Revenue from depository services makes up 13%, coming in at EUR 702,000 compared to EUR 620,000 in the first quarter of last year. Revenue from this line makes up 8.4% of total turnover and includes revenue from rights issues, again, quarterly subscriptions paid by operators, and revenue from inheritances. Now, revenue from ancillary services makes up 15% of total turnover, and in the first quarter of 2021, it was up a strong 83% to EUR 1.22 million compared to EUR 668,000 in the first quarter of last year.
This increase is mainly due to an increase in revenue from the support of other markets, such as the Hellenic Energy Exchange Group and Boursa Kuwait, mainly. The large increase in ancillary services is due to the 260% increase in revenue from the support of these markets to EUR 570,000 in the first quarter of 2021 compared to only EUR 158,000 in the first quarter of 2020. In particular, we can break that down further. Revenue from the Hellenic Energy Exchange was EUR 390,000 compared to EUR 118,000 in the first quarter of last year, and revenue from Boursa Kuwait was EUR 126,000 compared to zero in the first quarter of last year. Revenue from colocation services, which is also included in ancillary services, was also up 24% to EUR 255,000 compared to EUR 205,000 last year.
Lastly, revenue from market data makes up 7.6% of total turnover and includes the fee that we collect from data vendors for the provision of Athens Exchange market data. These fees depend essentially on the number of data terminals to which these data vendors disseminate Athens market data to, and amounted to EUR 634,000 in the first quarter of this year compared to EUR 618,000 in the corresponding period last year, and that's up 3.6%. Turning now to the expense side, total operating expenses, including ancillary services, dropped by 1.3% in the first quarter of this year, coming in at EUR 4.68 million compared to EUR 4.74 million last year.
If we break down these expenses, we see that personnel costs were down 6.9% to EUR 2.56 million compared to EUR 2.75 million last year, while all other expenses were up 6.5%, coming in at EUR 2.12 million compared to EUR 1.99 million in the first quarter of last year. The main drivers behind this increase are higher consulting fees, admittedly from a low base in 2020, and higher maintenance costs due to the new service contracts to support our IT infrastructure, including some new systems that were procured and installed. On the other hand, personnel costs were lower because, A, we increased CapEx in 2021 to normal levels compared to a lower level in the same period last year, and B, because we had lower Social Security contributions this year compared to last.
Other operating expenses were also down 26%, and that's mainly because of a EUR 100,000 donation that we gave last year to the Ministry of Health to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Personnel remuneration and expenses accounts for 60% of total OpEx, compared to 62% in the first quarter of last year, and it's by far the largest expense category as always. Headcount at the group at the end of March 2021 was 231 compared to 223 at the end of March 2020. Turning now to the bottom line, the earnings before interest and taxes of the group increased by 14.5% to EUR 2.27 million, compared to EUR 1.99 million in Q1 2020. Interest income was only EUR 4,000 compared to EUR 40,000 in 2020, due obviously to the significantly lower interest rates offered on deposits.
Thus net after-tax earnings of the group amounted to EUR 1.95 million, compared to EUR 1.66 million in the first quarter of last year, up 25%. The effective tax rate on consolidated earnings in the first quarter of this year was 14.1%, compared to 21.5% in the first quarter of last year. We remind you that for 2020, so last year, the nominal corporate income tax rate was 24%, while for 2021, the nominal rate is 22%. Turning now to the balance sheet, the cash and cash equivalents of the group at the end of March 2021 increased to EUR 70.3 million, compared to EUR 68 million at the end of 2020. At the parent company, cash and cash equivalents were EUR 18.6 million, compared to EUR 17.9 million last year.
Approximately 20% of that cash, i.e., EUR 13.6 million, at the end of the first quarter 2021, is kept at the Central Bank, the Bank of Greece, where interest rates are negative currently at -0.5%. Lastly, also on the balance sheet, a further EUR 223.4 million that we report as both an asset and a liability are actually third-party cash assets and concern margins in the cash and derivatives markets. These are clearing fund assets, and these funds are also deposited at the Bank of Greece. With this, I would like to thank you for listening in. We would like now to open the earnings call to any questions that you might have. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will begin the question- and- answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question, may press star followed by one on their telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, then you may press star and two. Please use your handset when asking the question for better quality. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephones. As a final reminder, to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephones. The question comes from the line of Kalogeropoulos Yiannis with Beta Securities. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hello, good evening. I have two questions actually. During your presentation, you mentioned the figure of around EUR 1.8 million. Does that refer to the total expected sales from services rendered that you expect for full-year 2021, which includes, let's say, the energy market and the Boursa Kuwait and all the other bourses that you provide services to? That's the first question. If you could guide us for Q2, providing that we have already completed the Piraeus Bank share capital increase, and we have pending Aegean and Alpha Bank, and also two bonds that were issued, I think it's Costamare during Q2, and it was Motor Oil, I guess, in Q1. Could you give us a color on what level the impact will be on your profitability, let's say on the EBITDA level from these corporate actions? Thank you.
Hi. Thank you for those questions. O n the EUR 1.8 million that was quoted, that is the guidance that we're giving on our relationship with EnEx alone, not the whole line with regards to additional services, and that's the number that we're quoting, that EnEx for ATHEX Group is a EUR 1.8 million relationship in full maturity.
That's on a per year basis, right?
Correct. That's one thing. That is the line item in revenue estimated, if you will, for the full mature nature of the relationship that we have with that particular client.
Will 2021 be a complete year of full exploitation of the energy market? I mean, will we reach the EUR 1.8 million for 2021?
We do expect that 2021 will be such a year.
Okay.
With regards to Piraeus Bank. Piraeus Bank, yeah, it is a very significant issue. Revenues on a cash basis, it is close to EUR 1 million, as you recall, these types of revenues no longer get recorded on our revenue line at a point in time, but it's rather point over time. You will see it on our liability as a service that we owe to those clients for over a period of time. We do collect the money on a cash basis, we don't book it in our revenue. Depending on the issue, if it's a primary listing, if it's an initial listing, it's five years that we amortize the revenue over that period. If it's a secondary issue, as is the case with Piraeus, it's over a three-year basis.
That's why you'll see that on the liability side that we have for services owed and in terms of our obligation, that particular line has increased from just over EUR 1 million to just under EUR 2 million. We'll take EUR 1.1 of the short-term and long-term liability, and then if you put on the Piraeus one, it's close to EUR 2 million that it's gone to that point. Again, you'll see it on a cash basis, but it's gradual with regard to how it impacts our revenue line. Now, with regards to Motor Oil, well, there the discussion is a little bit more limited with regards to the listing fee that we get from those types of instruments in terms of the bonds. Like for example, Motor Oil for us is close to EUR 13,000 revenue stream that gets amortized over a period.
With the bonds, what we do collect is close to EUR 90,000 from the electronic book building process, and that is booked within a year. From Motor Oil bond, it's close to EUR 90,000 that we get and another EUR 13 amortized over a period of time. For Alpha Bank, I don't have the numbers offhand, I think it's fair to assume that they will be proportional to the number that I mentioned for Piraeus with regard to the differentiation of size. I think one of the predominant driving factors with regard to the second quarter, aside from the services that we're working on and as they grow and continue to increase in terms of percentage of our OpEx base, I think we will have a significant, if nothing else changes, tailwind from the trading volumes that are significantly higher in the second quarter vis-a-vis the first quarter.
You mean margin operating leverage effect?
Correct.
Okay, that's clear. Thanks a lot.
For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephones. Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to management for any closing comments. Thank you.
Okay. Stelios, you want to wrap it up here?
Sure. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to listen in. We are happy to discuss with you in private if you want to take any matter up. Thank you again for participating. Have a great afternoon. Bye-bye.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded. You may disconnect your telephones. Thank you for calling and have a pleasant evening.