Greetings and welcome to the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ramón Juárez, Chief Financial Officer. Thank you, sir. You may begin.
Good morning. Thank you. Welcome to Bolsa Mexicana de Valores first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Before proceeding, I'd like to provide a brief safe harbor statement. This presentation contains forward-looking statements and information related to Bolsa that are based on the analysis and expectations of its management, as well as assumptions made and information currently available at Bolsa. Such statements reflect the current views of Bolsa related to future events that are subject to risk, uncertainties, and assumptions.
Many factors could cause the current results, performance, or achievements of Bolsa to be somewhat different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others, changes in general economic, political, governmental, and business conditions both in a global scale and in the individual countries in which Bolsa does business, such as changes in monetary policies, in inflation rates, in prices, in business strategy, and various other factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary considerably from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, or targeted. Bolsa does not intend and does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
I would also like to remind participants that today's call is being recorded, and a replay of this call will be available online on April 24th at Bolsa's corporate website, www.bmv.com.mx. During this call, all figures are in Mexican pesos and compared to the first quarter of 2024, unless stated otherwise. This call is intended for the financial community only, and the floor will be open at the end to address any questions you may have. Joining us for today's call are Jorge Alegría, CEO; Claudio Vivian, Chief Information Officer; Roberto González, Chief Post Trade Officer; Gabriel Rodríguez, SIF ICAP CEO; José Miguel de Dios, Managing Director of Derivatives Market; Luis René Ramón, Managing Director, Commercial Marketing; Juan Manuel Olivo, Capital Formation Director; our new FP&A and IR Director, Hanna Rivas; and myself, Ramón Juárez, CFO. I'd like to turn the call over now to our CEO, Jorge Alegría.
Thank you, Ramón. Good morning, everyone. I hope you are all doing well today. As you know, we released our earnings results yesterday evening to provide comprehensive details on our first quarter of 2025, on our results which we will be discussing during this call. The copies of our press release and slide deck are also available at bmv.com.mx under the Investor Relations tab. During today's call at this time, I will first review our ongoing initiatives and then briefly comment on our financial results and the comprehensive and the competitive landscape as well. Finally, we will conclude with some Q&A sessions where you can ask any questions via the conference call line. To start with, on the new central counterparty for bonds, the CCP services we are launching. As you may recall, we received the authorization last December.
We are currently running daily tests for clearing, risk management, and settlement on our quality assurance testing system to guarantee the correct operation of this new CCP service. Additionally, the first DRP test was recently executed. We have a couple more pending with the participation of the Mexican authorities as well, so the testing period should be finished around August. Initially, the CCP will start clearing ME bonos, and this should start sometime in Q3. We already have three large Mexican interdealer brokers connected, even though they have yet to receive approval from the authorities for their internal rules and regulations regarding the CCP. Additionally, we also have the two legal clearing members currently undergoing the onboarding process.
On a second stage, which should start on first Q 2026, the CCP service will start clearing repos and other government securities where we expect also it's going to be a very well-received service. On the liquidity alternative for Asigna, our derivatives clearing house, with the recent market volatility, we have perceived a new interest and renewed interest from the Mexican authorities to have this up and running sooner rather than later. As you know, this initiative will allow us to receive securities as variation margin instead of only cash, which is the way it works now. I am happy to tell you that we have found a mechanism similar to the collateral transformation services delivered in other jurisdictions, which seems to suit all the stakeholders.
In essence, Afores Mexican Pension Funds will deliver securities to the clearing members, which would then, through a trust fund, repo them for cash, which in turn would be delivered to Asigna to cover the daily variation margins that otherwise most people pay us in cash. Currently, three derivatives clearing members are in the process of finalizing the corresponding manual contracts with the trust fund. We expect to have this new structure ready and operational during this year. With this change, we expect to attract volume from the OTC market, where the pension funds are active, and also from other international markets where they are also active, where only dollar collateral is accepted. This is an important advantage being in Mexico as a Mexican institutional investor to be able to place Mexican peso collateral in these times of high volatility.
Another topic on which I want to give you an update is the new fee schedule for equity trading. First of all, we received some comments from the authorities, and we expect to have final approval in the coming weeks. A positive aspect to highlight is that we have not seen a relevant impact on our market share, which remains around 78%-80%. However, as we monitor the market and we are in very close contact with our customers, we are following the comments regarding our competitors' lower fees. Considering this, we will implement our new fee schedule once it is approved, but we will do so gradually so not to reduce fees more than we would need to. Of course, we will keep posted on this.
Let me follow on other fee structures comments that, after listening also to feedback from our customers and our end users, to promote retail market, that is one of our strategic guidelines, specifically in the SIC, in the international market section, we submitted a proposal to reduce our conversion fee at INDEVAL. Under our proposal, trades below $5,000 would be free of charge of this conversion fee, eliminating the minimum requirement. We are not expecting a material impact, and on the other hand, we think it will be very helpful for Mexican brokers to promote retail trading in this global market segment that has been quite successful. We are expecting formal approval from the authorities also in the coming weeks. On the advance of the simplified listings initiative, we have submitted the required changes to our internal rules and manuals to the authorities.
Regarding the new regulations for hedge funds, they have not been published yet, and we know our colleagues from the industry are working hard with the Mexican authorities to have these new rules in place soon. Let me move on our new efforts on market data. One of the efforts we are doing, and we will talk a little bit more in the coming sections, but we partnered with IPC Powered by Beeks to offer virtualized colocation services. Today, for our colocation product, our customers must place a physical server in our primary site. Under this new model, customers will, so to speak, rent a virtual space on a server, making this process a lot easier. We believe this will help bring new participants, increase the participation of current ones, and help us to improve trading on the equity segment.
We expect this to have it ready by Q3 2025. In the derivatives market, we have been showing also several advances. We are focusing on the launch of the new products during Q2, such as listing the Mini Dollar contract and the ESG Index contract already approved by the authorities. We have also new products launched for the derivatives segment to list futures on individual stocks. International names like Tesla, Facebook, Google, Apple, which are highly liquid in the international segment on the SIC, will have now futures and options in MexDer in the hopefully coming weeks or months where we are pending final approvals from the authorities after a lengthy negotiation process. Finally, we are also looking, in this same segment, to have ready sometime this year, hopefully, options on ETFs on the international segment as well to be approved soon.
Additionally, we have seen a successful transition from the 28-day TIIE interest rate to the new Funding TIIE or TIIE de Fondeo. We are now seeing regular volumes, especially in the very short end of the curve, with volumes on the first coupon or the first and second coupons growing every week. As you may know, we also listed this very short segment of the stock market recently with very good results in volumes. Transformation for our post trade services, and this is an important endeavor that we are fully committed to. In 2024, we launched the post trade transformation program aimed at evolving from isolated internal systems to fully interconnected next-generation platforms. A key milestone in this journey is the adoption of the Nasdaq platform solution for our central securities depository, CSD, INDEVAL, and for our equity central counterparty, the CCP.
Building on this foundation, we have recently expanded the platform's capabilities to include bonds and derivatives CCPs as well. The plan is to give and to go live with the derivatives platform solution in 2026, while the equity and bond CCP, also the INDEVAL, are planned to be deployed in early 2027. We have also launched a proof of concept for data platforms to strengthen our real-time data and tailor-made reporting capabilities, positioning us to deliver even greater value to market participants in all the post trade segments. Now let me move to our key financial highlights in the following slides. For the first Q2025 key financial highlights, we can see this quarter we are showing also and continuing to show positive numbers, led by strong operating results in all business lines, with also help by the exchange rate. Revenues, EBITDA, and net income are all growing 17%.
Revenues were a little over MXN 1.1 billion. EBITDA reached MXN 640 million, with a 57% margin, and net income was MXN 437 million. Earnings per share were MXN 0.78, up 18% when compared with the first quarter of 2024. As I said, a very good quarter and in line with the positive results we had the last quarter. Let me move to the next slide to review each business line. Our revenue distribution remains balanced and well-diversified. Capital formation, all the listing of equity, debts, and alternative securities, as well as its annual maintenance, contributed this year with 12% of BMV Group's revenue. Transactional business, which consists of equity trading and clearing, derivatives trading and clearing, and OTC trading, generated 35% of the revenue. Information services, made up of data, analytics, indices, valuation, and financial risk management services, had an 18% weight.
While the CSD, the central securities depository, INDEVAL, which is responsible for custody, settlement, and global market services, mainly with our cross-border transactions activity, participated with 30% of the revenues. Now, please turn to slide 6 to cover the equity trading and clearing segment. The revenue in our cash equity trading division was up 4% when compared with the 2024 number, while average daily traded value, which reached MXN 17.3 billion, grew 19%. The difference in growth rates is explained by the MXN 7 million in non-recurring income last year. Without this, revenues would have been grown 16%. Trading in the local market grew 6%, while the global segment, or SIC, grew 42%, including a 35% increase in the number of trades. Our market share for the quarter was 78%, similar to the fourth quarter in the previous year.
While, on the other hand, clearing in the CCD revenue was up 13%, while the total average daily trading volume for both Mexican exchanges were up 22%. These indicators grow at a different rate because they go in cross-trade, which have been higher in the last quarter and require registration but not clearing, so then we have a lower fee on that particular transactions. Let us go to the next slide to review derivatives. Revenues for our derivatives trading and clearing segment increased 13%. In MexDer, they grew by 12%, led by higher trading in our Mexican peso dollar futures, while in Asigna, they grew 15%, reflecting growth in margin deposits. The average daily notional value for dollar futures reached $341 million daily, up 21%, while the open interest increased 38% compared to 2024 annual average.
On the other hand, the average daily notional value for swaps decreased 11% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching around MXN 3 billion daily. However, while open interest experienced an upward trend, the volume of contracts decreased. Most of the contract activity is concentrated on activities shorter than six months. In Asigna, the average margin deposits were MXN 48 billion for the quarter, growing 15%. Let's discuss now, on the next slide, the OTC trading results. Moving to SIF ICAP, the OTC trading revenues increased MXN 15 million or 8%, with growth in Mexico and in Chile. SIF ICAP Mexico grew 60% or MXN 8 million, while SIF ICAP Chile, the growth was 5% or MXN 7 million. On the next slide, we have the capital formation numbers, where we can see listings revenue increased MXN 2 million or 11%, mainly driven by two types of securities: warrants and short-term bonds.
On one hand, the issues of warrants in the first Q 2025 more than doubled in value compared to the first Q of last year. On the other hand, the amount of short-term bonds grew by over 20% compared to the same period in the first Q of 2024. On the maintenance segment, revenue was up 6% for the quarter, explained by the growth of outstanding issuance when comparing by the end of 2024 with the previous year. Let me now move to the central securities, to the CSD depository, INDEVAL, on slide 10. INDEVAL revenue is growing 25%, driven by an increase in assets on custody, conversions, settlements, and a number of cross-border transactions, as well as a favorable exchange rate. Total assets on custody are growing 11%, reaching MXN 40.9 trillion.
As we had mentioned before, growth in the local market is explained by the pension market reform, 19% year-on-year on government bonds as well, which grew 15% year-on-year. Also, a relevant growth in cross-border settlements due to the higher volatility observed in the case of SIC and the global market. Finally, on slide 11, information services. Our information services revenue composed of market data and Valmer reached MXN 205 million. This is MXN 36 million or 25% more than in the first quarter of 2024. This growth is explained by our price vendor, Valmer, adding MXN 12 million, and explained also by non-recurring events of the first Q of 2024. Also, depreciation of the peso affected this number as well. As I said, we are showing a good start of the year. As you know, we have seen a lot of volatility in the market lately.
Of course, in the short term, this is good for our business, not necessarily in the medium term, but so far, in the short term, we are expecting to continue to see this strong trading activity. Let us move to our expenses and operating expenses for 2024. Operating expenses 2024 reached MXN 585 million. This is an increase of 14% or MXN 66 million, which are mainly explained by MXN 21 million in personnel costs. This is basically due to our annual salary increments and additional variable compensation from SIF ICAP positive results. MXN 20 million in technology expenses due to the evergreen projects aimed at ensuring our platforms run smoothly, securely, and along with the investment we are making in the segregation and that we made already on the segregation of the post trade infrastructure.
7 million in sub-custody, as the value of the assets on the custody abroad increased, which also, as we explained before, generates additional revenue in INDEVAL. MXN 7 million in consultancy related to FX fluctuations and HR-related defense, and MXN 7 million in promotion, which is marketing as part of our 2025 and onward investment strategy, aiming at enhancing our client engagement and fostering stronger relationships. MXN 3 million in other expenses affecting the increase on the put-related cost we have on SIF ICAP. Our total expenditure for the quarter was MXN 32 million; our total capital expenditure, sorry, for the quarter was MXN 32 million, in line with our projected and investment plans, which will help us to interact better with our customer and improve our market services. Before we finish, let me comment on a couple of points.
First, it is important to emphasize that, along with the outstanding results obtained during this quarter, our operation has performed smoothly, our systems functioning properly, and furthermore, significant progress has been made on the ongoing initiatives, reflecting the steady advance in line with established objectives. I am also glad to confirm that during our next shareholders' assembly, we will be proposing the cancellation of 32.9 million shares that we have purchased up to December 2024 and are so far held in treasury. Additionally, the appointment of the new Secretary of the Treasury has contributed to strengthening relationships with the government authorities and enhancing collaboration with them. We will continue to work closely with all of them and do our best to have our projects move as quickly as possible, both for the improvement of our company and on behalf of the Mexican securities industry.
Last but not least, I want to congratulate our brand new Investor Relations Director and Financial Planning Director, Hanna Rivas. Welcome, Hanna, on your promotion to this role. I am confident she will do an excellent job, as she has been doing for the last years with the company, and will be your main contact person between investors and the Mexican exchange. Thank you very much for connecting today, listening to my remarks. Alongside my colleagues here, we will more than gladly address any questions that you may have. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue.
You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. Thank you. Our first question comes from a line of Ernesto Gabilondo with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.
Thank you. Hi, good morning, Jorge Ramón. Good morning to all your team, and welcome, Hanna. Congratulations on your results, strong revenue growth, EBITDA growth, net income growth. Congrats for the quarter. I have three questions from my side. The first one will be on your new pricing structure. We have been seeing a more benign impact from BIVA from what we have originally expected. How should we think about Bolsa's new pricing structure?
You mentioned in your remarks that you were waiting for the regulator's approval, but wouldn't it make more sense not to implement an aggressive pricing structure and to continue monitoring BIVA's performance to see if you need to apply an aggressive pricing structure? Related to this, is there a deadline to implement the Bolsa's new pricing structure once you receive the approval from the regulator? I also remember that we have already incorporated an impact of around MXN 27million-MXN 20 million per quarter, or roughly MXN 110 million in 12 months from a potential discount from your side. As you were saying, you will monitor and do a gradual implementation. Just wondering how should we think about the potential impact? My second question is on your OpEx growth. We are aware of your technology investments this year. However, we think OpEx came a little bit higher.
Just wondering if it is also explained by the impact year-over-year related to FX, or if we should expect OpEx to be this as a new normal growth throughout the year. Also linked to this question, should we expect revenue outpacing OpEx growth throughout the year? For my last question, it is more related to something in the accounting. Why did taxes paid jump around 25% on the cash flow statement? Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Ernesto. Thank you for your questions. Let me address the first one, and I am sure gladly Ramón will, with the rest of the team, cover the other two related, the OpEx and taxes. Yes, regarding the pricing structure, we can implement that gradually. The way we are planning to do it is on observing the market reaction.
We do not need to put all the different alternatives under our pricing schedule at the same time. We are not expecting to be aggressive there. As you mentioned, so far, the impact has not been as big. We can have the flexibility of managing that during the rest of the year. Although we are expecting to have this approval in the coming weeks, usually there are some periods that may go between three to six months to be applied. We are also expecting to have some flexibility there on the application of the fee schedule. Yes, you mentioned something about MXN 100 million potential impact. That was mentioned last year, I believe in October last year.
That's the potential impact that we may have shown during 2025 if we were trying to match our competitors' pricing, which hasn't been the case so far for this year, right? I hope I answered your question on that. I'll turn over the next question on OpEx higher for the quarter to Ramón.
Ernesto, good morning. Our OpEx growth, yes, it is also affected by the FX around MXN 17 million. It is in line with what we are expecting and what we can announce, especially with the technology investments and with the new promotion expenses. If you recall earlier, when we announced our plan for the year, we said we could see a we would be investing, even if we could see a slight drop in margins. I would say for the time being, yes, consider this our ongoing OpEx.
Also consider or keep in mind SIF's variable compensation. If we see good results from SIF ICAP, you will see personal expenses going up as well. Regarding taxes, Q1 is where we made the annual payment in taxes. It is just the difference from the provisional payments we made throughout the year to the final settlements that are coming in the tax filings. Part of it is explained by the greater net income, and the other part is just the cash settlement that comes with the final filing.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you, Ramón. Just to follow up.
Ernesto?
I'm sorry. It looks like he disconnected. Our next question comes from the line of Yuri Fernandes with JPMorgan. Please proceed with your question.
Thank you, Ramón, Jorge, everyone, and congrats on a very good quarter. I have just a follow-up on expenses, on Ernesto's questions. I totally agree, Ramón.
You were very clear on this. I'm not sure about the trend for the year because I think in the first year, the message was that expenses would grow above inflation, but one point above inflation, something like this. If we annualize the first year and keep all the full year flat, we get like 28% increase versus 2024. I get the first year, there was FX. You had more technology costs, consulting fees, many, I would say, uneasy comps. Just trying to understand, it's like, okay, this is the run rate, or will this increase from here? I understand there is variable compensation that can influence this. Just trying to understand if the former message on expenses growing one point above inflation or something like this, is it still valid, or if you believe now it's likely more than that? That is the first question.
Just a second one, you mentioned in the presentation many small projects, right, on derivatives, single stocks, options on ETFs, many, many different things. I understand many of those things are small. It's not the same as the fixed income counterpart. Do you have any estimate on potential revenues of those things, by project or in aggregate, how much more revenues can we get on all those small projects that you have been doing? Thank you.
Yuri, thank you for your question. If we see how expenses are coming, I would say that the way growth is coming, we would expect this current rate of expenses. Yes, there would be above inflation. If we are, depending on how the exchange rate moves, that is affecting us, if we keep getting growth from indirect custody fees or subcustody fees, we would continue to increase.
Those would be, let's say, above what we had expected, while at the same time being somewhat offset by growth. Some of them are being offset by revenues. I would keep the current rate, the current level of expenses for future quarters. Regarding revenues from the derivatives contracts that we mentioned, don't lose any sleep over that. As you know, derivatives is a small portion of our revenues. We were not expecting significant revenue, yet we're trying to start to generate more interest in the retail market and generate more movement in derivatives, but it will not be a game changer.
Yuri, this is Jorge again. Thank you for the question. One of the most important lines of marketing is to develop the retail segment in the Mexican market.
This is just the initial steps of launching more suitable products for retail, especially these tech stocks or highly liquid stocks in the market. This is going to be an effort that is just starting. No very meaningful revenue expected for this year, but it is part of a much longer and bigger strategy to grow the retail segment in both cash equities and derivatives.
Perfect, guys. Thank you. Again, congrats. I think revenue is growing faster than expenses, which is what we have been waiting for years. I think it is a good thing. Thank you for the clarifications.
Our next question comes from the line of Carlos Gómez with HSBC. Please proceed with your question.
Hi, good morning. Congratulations on the results. Welcome to Hanna. We look forward to talking to her. A question on your capital allocation.
You have been very active in terms of buybacks. Do you expect to continue to distribute as much capital as you have in the past? Or given that you have, again, as mentioned earlier, all these projects, you have perhaps some more expenses, you might retain some more capital in the coming years as an investment phase. The second question is the impact of the movement both in the exchange rate and in the international markets. I mean, we have seen in the past when there has been depreciation of dollar assets, you have had less activity in the global segment of your market. How has the experience been so far with events after, let's say, the beginning of April? Thank you.
Carlós, on the first question on the capital allocation, our plan is, yes, to continue with our buyback program, depending on, obviously, on stock performance.
We have seen our stock perform well lately. We will continue, but it is dependent on our price of our stock. We are set to pay our dividend on the 12th of May. Increase the reserve. We have a reserve of up to MXN 500 million for this year. So far, we have purchased less than planned, as I said, because of performance. Regarding the impact of the FX, could you repeat the question, please?
Is your question more related to activity, the activity that FX depreciation generates on the SIF market? Is that your question, Carlos?
Yeah, my question is more, again, in the past, when we had the big appreciation of the peso, and then you had, therefore, a decline in peso expressed in peso of the value of the foreign assets, we had a reduction in activity.
Now we have had the peso relatively stable, but the value of foreign assets is decreasing because of the movements in the international market. Have you seen something similar to what we saw in 2023 happen to you?
Not yet. Maybe my colleagues can comment on that as well, but not yet. I think what we are seeing is all the recent activity due to, first, volatility. We are seeing some capital reallocation, I think, as well. Pension funds are still growing in terms of assets under management. We believe what we have been hearing, they are also analyzing different alternatives on how to structure their portfolios with all the several changes we are seeing in the behavior of different markets. So far, we haven't seen any additional higher or lower activity related to this.
I think we can explain all the activity recently is more due to market volatility and the FX impact so far, but nothing we can see as a new trend in the market or a different trend.
Thank you so much.
Our next question comes from the line of Edson Murguia with Suma Capital. Please proceed with your question.
Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. The question is related to Bolsa's initiative with Nasdaq. I know Jorge mentioned that Nasdaq technology will be used in bonds and other type of part of the post-trade and other part of the businesses at both times. My question regarding the Nasdaq technology is, are you expecting or the plan is to use more Nasdaq technology in other part of the businesses from both perspectives?
My second question is regarding the MXN 3 million in other expenses, if I remember correctly, about the put option with SIF ICAP. I was wondering if you can give it a little bit more color. Why is this MXN 3 million in the put option with the premium? What is the rationale behind this? Thank you.
Yeah, sorry. Your second question was related to the put and call. Let me go over the first one very briefly, and maybe Roberto can mention something. Yes, we are using Nasdaq technology for all the post-trade division. That will allow us to have not only more robust services, but also new kind of services that may be foreseen to be provided in the future. The technology and services in this segment is advancing fast. Yes, we are using Nasdaq.
If we understood correctly, if we are planning to use Nasdaq technology in other segments, we don't know yet. We are analyzing and doing a proof of concept for market data management as well, but it's just so far a proof of concept. We are upgrading on the front end for the trading engines for the derivatives segment. One of the alternatives we are analyzing is Nasdaq as well, among others, but we haven't made any decision there to use more Nasdaq technology. They are obviously considered, and they will be participating eventually in any potential decision. So far, we are focused on executing and delivering the post-trade segment where we are, as you can see, focusing our main efforts. Let us move to your call put question for SIF ICAP, if I recall correctly. Is that was your next question?
Yes, exactly.
In SIF ICAP Chile, we have a partner. He holds 20% of the shares. SIF ICAP has 80%. We have puts and calls signed for those 20% of the shares, and they're revalued with a performance formula. As we go on with the results, we have to update the value of this option. This is where it's a direct result of SIF ICAP Chile's positive performance.
Okay. Last, regarding the timeline of these new initiatives, the mini USD, the index, so on, what will be the timeline to be operational or to be in the market for the retailers, or what will be the time? It's my understanding that there are some processes with the regulators, that it's not overdone. What would you expect?
It's going to be by the end of 2025, or we are expecting for the next quarter, 2026, just to figure out what will be the timeline of those initiatives?
Sure. Related to the new index future contract and the Mini Dollar future contract, those are already authorized. We are in the marketing and implementation phase for those new contracts. Again, we are focusing on a more retail-oriented strategy there. Actually, this week's comments with the Mexican central bank, the contracts—and correct me, Mac, if I'm wrong—but the option contracts for the SIC individual names, the technology names, should be approved. I mean, we are aiming to do a second Q launch no later than third Q launch for this new set of options.
Yes, it has been a long time negotiating, but now we are not almost ready to go, but also looks like after this launch of this first set of new contracts in the market, we will be able to launch more under the same circumstances and under the same terms and conditions much faster than before because now the first ones were approved. The next ones, including ETFs on the international segment, should be approved much faster. We are aiming for second Q launch no later than third Q launch.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you so much, and congrats on the results.
Thank you, Edson.
Our next question comes from the line of Kaio Prato with UBS. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, everyone. Good morning. Thanks for the first question. I have two quick on my side sleeve, a few on top line.
The first is in terms of the information services line. We saw it increasing by more than 20% year- on- year. I understand all the impacts from the effects here, but just wondering if it is only related to FX or if there are any other drivers for that, just to understand what can we expect going forward. Finally, after a good quarter, especially on maintenance as well, I would like to hear from you what are the expectations for the year, both in terms of listing and maintenance. Perhaps we can expect better numbers than we were previously forecasting by the fourth Q. Thank you.
Yeah, Kaio, good morning. On the information services, part of it is related to FX, the part of market data. As for Valmer, you have a portion that Valmer had a weak result in Q1 of 2024. It's actually an accounting issue.
If you look at history, the past last year, you're going to see that Q1 for Valmer was bad, and then Q2 was good. You have to take the average of the two to compare. Valmer did have a good quarter with growth from new products, from new customers and new products, new movements. Market data was mostly FX. With regard to the maintenance line, as you know, maintenance fees are billed in advance in Q1 and amortized throughout the year. If you look at historical data, you're going to see that they're relatively constant throughout the year, and we would expect them to continue that way. That should be a very constant number. It could have a slight decline if you have some cancellations throughout the year. For practical purposes, what you're looking at in Q1 should continue for the next quarters.
Okay.
Great. Thank you.
We have no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to management for closing comments.
Okay. Thank you very much again to all of you. We look forward to having another great quarter in the months to come. Thank you again for your assistance. If you need any other questions, please reach out to us now that Hanna is fully on board. If nothing else, we will have the next call next July. Thank you very much for attending.
Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful day.