Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I'm Vasilios, your core call operator. Welcome and thank you for joining the Athens Exchange Group conference call to present and discuss the second quarter 2024 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. Nik 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 half of 2024, which were published yesterday and are available in the IR section of our website, and then take any questions that you might have. I will now give the floor over to our CFO for some comments before the more formal presentation of our financial performance in more detail. Nik?
So, yeah, thank you, Stelios. Good afternoon and good morning to all. So, in the first half of 2024, what we've seen is obviously the average daily traded value, as you all very well know, has increased by 30% to EUR 144 million versus EUR 110-111 million for the same period of last year. A couple of points on this particular data point, though, that is important to underscore, as we usually do, versus the underlying dynamics correlated to our revenue from trading. One, we had fewer trading days in the first half, two, to be exact, so that's a couple of percentage points less vis-à-vis last year. I think we've made this point in the first quarter: results that part of the trading volume was priced at a 60% discount versus the statutory rates as it pertains to the placement of the HFSF shares.
That's close to EUR 9 million for the six-month period off the headline number of 144. July is running at approximately EUR 95 million, which is more or less what we had witnessed last year. Traditionally, we see lower volumes in the third quarter of the year, seasonally the weakest quarter of the period, on an annual basis. The average market cap that stood 28% higher in the first quarter, in the first half of this year compared to last year, and it pretty much broke, and we're standing over the EUR 100 billion point in the second quarter, which is the first time since 2008. On the data services, we're seeing some nice growth there.
I think we've talked about how we have gradually been increasing our prices there, and it's been taken up by data users quite nicely, and we've added some additional demand there given the increased activity in the Greek market. Operating expenses, those were up close to 4%, 3.7% to be exact, compared to a 9% increase for the full year of 2023. Personnel expenses were up 7.7% in the first half. Other costs were down 1.5%, and that was on the back of the elevated base effect in 2023. I think we've talked about this, that we aspire to remain competitive as an employer while aiming to support our strategy in a cost-effective manner. I'm pretty sure you're going to ask me about the annual growth rate. We do not foresee any change versus the high single-digit number that we have talked about.
The second half of the year, there's a series of events that we have planned that will push the number higher, as well as some projects that there's third-party participants that will be required to be onboarded for these initiatives that we have in mind. We continue our marketing efforts to promote the Greek capital market and broaden the investor base. As you know, on June 6th, we organized the MidCap Conference that we did in Paris, and the fall and the winter of 2024, we have events lined up again in Paris and Frankfurt. Both of those are in the beginning of October. Our flagship roadshow in London in the beginning of December, and we also have a MidCap event set for Geneva.
I'll stop here, and I'll let Stelios go through our performance in more detail, and we'll be happy to take any questions at the end of the call. Stelios?
Thank you, Nik. So, let's start with the overview of our first half 2024 numbers and in more detail starting at the top. The consolidated turnover of the group in the first half of 2024 was EUR 26.8 million compared to EUR 22.9 million in the first half of last year, and that's up 17%. Revenue from trading represents 18% of total consolidated turnover, and in the first half of this year, it was up 9% at EUR 4.7 million compared to EUR 4.3 million last year. We remind you, as Nik already mentioned, that on January 1st, we have a new pricing scheme that went into effect, the cash market, replacing the 1.25 basis point flat rate. So, we have trading bands, bundles that were introduced with minimum guaranteed charges, which members have to pre-purchase each month.
The fees further differentiated depending on the market phase, i.e., whether trading takes place in the opening and closing auctions, during continuous trading, or at the close. The higher the band selected, of course, the lower the headline fee. Now, revenue from post-trading made up 44% of total turnover and amounted to EUR 11.6 million compared to EUR 10.3 million in the first half of last year. That's up 14% on the back of higher trading activity in the cash market. Now, as far as revenue from the derivatives market, both trading and post-trading is concerned, in the first half of 2024, trading activity measured by the average daily number of contracts dropped by 17% to 42,100 contracts compared with 50,700 last year.
Revenue from derivatives was down 10.5%, with the average revenue per contract up 8.9% at €0.239 per contract compared to €0.219 per contract over the same period last year. Lastly, on derivatives, trading revenue in the first half of this year was EUR 1.22 million compared to EUR 1.37 million last year, corresponding to 7.5% of total trading and post-trading revenue. Revenue from listing makes up 12% of total turnover, and this line includes the quarterly subscription fees paid by listed companies, fees on rights issues, IPOs, and other services to issuers, and amounted to EUR 3.3 million, up 23% compared to the first half of 2023. Revenue from data services makes up 8% of total turnover and includes the fees that we collect from data vendors for the provision of ATHEX market data. And as Nik mentioned, in the first half of 2024, these fees were up by 18%.
Revenue from IT, digital, and other services makes up 16% of total turnover and includes revenue from digital services, infrastructure, and technological solutions to the Hellenic Energy Exchange and Boursa Kuwait. This category also includes revenue from services such as Electronic Book Building, XNET, AXIA e-Shareholders Meeting, Colocation, and others. Revenue from IT and digital services was up 29% to EUR 4.2 million compared to EUR 3.2 million last year. Finally, revenue from ancillary services makes up 3% of total turnover, and in the first half of this year, it was up 35%. Ancillary services include revenue from support services to the Hellenic Energy Exchange, rents, and some others. Moving on to the expense side, total operating expenses increased by 3.7% in the first half of this year at EUR 12.8 million compared to EUR 12.4 million last year.
If we break that down, we see that personal costs were up 7.7% in the first half of this year at EUR 7.5 million compared to EUR 6.9 million last year, while all other expenses were down by 1.5% at EUR 5.4 million. Now, some key drivers were third-party remuneration, which was down 29% due to reduced consultant fees. Utility expenses, mainly electricity, which continued to drop in 2024, down 20% in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year. While, on the other hand, maintenance and IT support costs were up 16%, and building and equipment management costs were up 26%. Personnel remuneration expenses account for 58% of total operating expenses compared to 56% in the first half of last year. And headcount of the group on June 30th this year was 253 compared to 246 at the end of the first half of 2023.
Turning now to profitability, the earnings before interest and taxes of the group increased by 41% to EUR 10.8 million compared to EUR 7.7 million in the first half of last year. The net after-tax profits and earnings of the group amounted to EUR 9.4 million, up 43% compared to the first half of 2023. Finally, on the balance sheet, the cash and cash equivalents of the group on June 30th, 2024, were EUR 74.6 million compared to EUR 63.6 million at the end of 2023. You should note that this year, the dividend per share of EUR 0.24, corresponding to a total payout of EUR 14.5 million, was paid in the first day of the third quarter, while last year it was paid in Q2. Effectively, we start off the third quarter with EUR 60 million in cash compared to EUR 63.3 million at the end of 2023.
With this note, this concludes our remarks, and we will be, as always, happy to take any questions that you may 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 your question for better quality. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. One moment for the first question, please. The first question comes from the line of Eleni Ismailou with Axia Ventures Group. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon, and congratulations for this good set of results. Just a couple of questions from my end. The first one would be, how should we think of the EBITDA margin in the other quarters, given that both the expected revenues are anticipated to grow and the expenses outlook? And Nik, as we said earlier, is expected to print single-digit, high single digit, if not mistaken. And also, if you could make any comments on the projects you mentioned earlier that you're planning for the second half of 2024, like what are they and of what nature? And should we expect third-party fees to increase again on the back of that? Thank you.
Okay, thank you, Eleni. So let me start with the second question. As you know, we are launching the new operating system of our trading platform. As that project is wrapping up, just because of various testing, etc., and some regulatory changes that are pushed through with regards to the change in the pre-trade risk management as well. So there's some consultancy fees there that will be involved. It's not something significant or I don't want to mislead as in there's something major coming up. It's just a matter of how things have lined up, given the initiatives that we have announced already, the trading system, the change in the post-trade. So for that matter, the abolishment of the pre-trade risk management, that we're moving to a post-trade risk management operating backdrop for the CCP that will involve some fees that we'll pay to third parties.
So the run rate for that particular line will not be the decline exhibited in the first half of the year in that sense. That's why I just wanted to note that despite the 4%, there's going to be a small pickup in the second half, but we will remain, as discussed, at the high single-digit figure for the year. Now, with regards to EBITDA margin, well, we showcased a 50% EBITDA margin for the first half of the year, and quite happy that we anchored, at least for the first half of the year, that number. Given the seasonality that is embedded in the second half, especially given Q3, we would not expect that figure to remain at such elevated levels, but we definitely aspire to have EBITDA margin expansion compared to what we've seen on an annual basis versus previous years.
Thank you, Nik. Just a follow-up general question. I was wondering whether you would comment on any upcoming catalysts that we have ahead, for example, ATHEX inclusion into the developed market status, but by FTSE and STOXX . Thank you.
Well, as we've mentioned on that particular front, for us, operationally, we're ready. We pretty much have ticked all the boxes that are required. Let's call it market accessibility standards. It seems that we tick all those boxes. It's a matter of the assessment of the parties that you mentioned, the assessment of the market size and how they perceive it to be with regards to the rest of their constituents. So our base case is at least one rater would consider us to be on that, to consider us on the watch list. That is something that we aspire for 2024. But again, it's something that we do not control, but given where the market is, I think it's a fair assessment to achieve.
Given that, from our perspective, with regards to things that are within our control and affect the market accessibility criteria, we've pretty much done everything that we can on that particular front. Let me just add here, I know you didn't ask, but there's something that with regards to derivatives, that being showcasing some decline year-over-year. But even on that front, we've managed to have the tax on OTC lending abolished. And it's our understanding from the intelligence that we have that the cost of borrow in the Greek market has dropped significantly, and we're seeing some additional activity there. Hopefully, that will flow through to the derivatives market as well as the year progresses.
Thank you, Nik, for the call. And again, congratulations for the results. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next question comes from the line of Iakovos Kourtesis with Piraeus Securities. Please go ahead.
Hi there. I would like to ask some clarifications in terms of what is your projected CapEx for the year. Second, in terms of dividend policy, if you still stick to the 100% of the net profit being distributed to shareholders, if this is the case, and we could see that there was a minor marginal decrease in terms of other operating expenses for the first half period, taking into account that, as Nik mentioned, you have a number of events in the second half of the year in terms of market promotion in various cities of Europe. Should we expect this to be slightly higher compared to previous years? So should we expect higher other OpEx in the second half of the year? Thank you very much.
Yeah, that would be fair to assume. And then with regards to CapEx, we did close to EUR 2 million for the first half of the year. That too, there's a series of elements here that are kind of bundled into the third quarter. We want to take advantage of the lower activity to kind of work on some projects here, whether it be energy upgrades to our infrastructure that would structurally reduce our energy consumption. Hopefully, we'll have some savings there. So the number for the year, I think, if I recall correctly, we talked about potentially EUR 6 million-6.5 million. So we aspire to remain on track with regards to that figure. So it's kind of like backloaded with regards to the CapEx for the year. And then the dividend policy, as we've mentioned, we have a comfortable cash position.
We do not foresee any requirement for us to continue adding cash to our balance sheet. So we want to maximize our capacity to distribute earnings to shareholders. So whether that's 100% or 90%, 95%, but the overall thesis is to reward our shareholders to the maximum capacity that we have.
Yes, but for example, in terms of dividend policy, would you expect to return to some combination of dividend and capital return or strictly dividend?
No, I think it's given where we are right now with a 5% tax rate on the dividend per se. It used to be more optimal to have a combination. But right now, we do not envision, at least for the foreseeable future, to supplement any distributions to shareholders with capital return. A few years ago, when we were making EUR 3 million a year, bottom line, we wanted to continue to reward shareholders by supplementing the distribution to shareholders with capital return because we did have an excess amount. Now, profitability is kicking in quite nicely. We're still able, with our profits, with our profitability, still in the 4%-5% dividend yield level. So there's no need for us to supplement with additional capital returns as we stand right now.
Thank you very much.
The next question comes from the line of Yannis Kalogeropoulos with Beta Securities. Please go ahead.
Hello, good evening. Do you have any updates on the pipeline of any other potential IPOs or new listings or bond issues during the second half of the year regarding the domestic market? Thank you.
Yeah. Yanni, I think you know very well that there's, okay, so let's put it this way. There are multiple discussions that we're having as we continuously strive to be in contact with corporate Greece, for that matter. And IPOs are as good as market conditions. So there are multiple discussions, but now with regards to them, and they're more than the case was, let's say, two years ago. But until the actual file is submitted with the HCMC or ourselves, it's best to be prudent with regards to what we're talking about. But yes, we are having constant discussions with either prospects or something that could be things that might be a little bit more mature, whether it be corporate actions or listings.
Okay, thanks.
As a reminder, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and one on your telephone. As a final reminder, to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. 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.
Thank you, everyone, for participating at the call. We wish everyone a great summer, and we'll speak again for the third quarter results. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling and have a good day.