Q4 and Full Year 2018 Results Call. Just to remind you, this conference call is being recorded. Today, I am pleased to present Mr. Stephen Bushnell, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext. Sir, please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody, and thank you for joining us this morning for Euronet's 2018 results conference call and webcast. I'm Stephane Boussneur, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board of Euronext. And I will start with the highlight of 2018. Georgio Modica, Euronext CFO, will then further develop the main financials for the Q4. And I will then update you on the current tender offer for Osseboer's BPS before opening up for questions together with Antonia Tia, member of the Managing Board of Euronext.
Let me start with Slide 5. 2018 was a strong year for Euronext with double digit growth in revenue, double digit growth in EBITDA and double digit growth in adjusted EPS. And most importantly for 2019, the Q4 of 2018 confirmed the positive trend we have seen over the previous quarters. So So annual revenues first increased in 2018 by $83,000,000 up plus 15.5 percent to 615,000,000 dollars This increase was the result of the first the strong performance across all core activities, primarily cash trading and advanced data services. 2nd, the consolidation of Euronext Dublin as of the Q2 and also the good contribution of ForEx platform Fast Match and incremental revenue from our selected growth initiatives.
At the same time, we continued to improve our core business cost and our core business costs went down by minus 4.3% compared to the previous year. At group level, group costs were up, but this was due to the consolidation of newly acquired businesses with lower cost structure than our core business and also the deployment of material projects. As a result, the group EBITDA increased by 19% in 2018 to $354,300,000 And this translates into an EBITDA margin of 57.6 percent, up 1.7 points visavis the EBITDA margin of 2017. Even in a year where we delivered major progress and major projects in implementing the optic project, for example, and in a year where we consolidated new businesses. So this strong operating performance over the year resulted in an 11.2% increase in adjusted EPS at €3.44 per share.
On a reported basis, 2018 net income was down by 10.5 percent, sorry, at €260,000,000 And this was related to the impact of exceptional items and increased net financing expenses. But I would like to underline that the 2017 result was marked by significant one off events, in particular capital gains related to the swap between our shares in LCH Limited for our 11.1 percent investment in LCH S. A. And the release of a significant tax provision. So in accordance with our policy and offsetting 50% payout ratio and reported net income, we will propose a dividend of €1.54 per share for the Annual General Meeting on May 16, 2019.
Moving to Slide 6. Euronext is 1 year ahead of schedule in achieving most of the 2019 targets set under the Agility for Growth strategic plan released in May 16. As you may remember, we set in May 16, 4 main objectives for 2019 at that time. The first objective was to deliver value to shareholders through an EBITDA margin for the core business, which we targeted should be by the end of 2019 between 61% 63% for the core business combined with the selected growth initiatives. And that had to be done through a disciplined capital deployment.
The second objective was to enhance Agility, which was to be translated into cost saving of €22,000,000 and the delivery of a new state of the art trading platform, OPTIC. The third objective was to strengthen the resilience of the core business with, in particular, 2% CAGR targeted for the core business growth and an average market share superior to 60% on cash trading. And the 4th objective was to grow in selected segments with the launch of a selected organic growth initiatives. And finally, we wanted to create optionality in clearing for all members. So today, when you look at those 4 avenues of objectives that we set for 2019, we can report major achievements on all those fronts.
So we have delivered and we will continue to deliver value to shareholders. Our 2018 EBITDA margin for the core business combined with the margin of the selected growth initiatives, excluding Clearings stood at 61.6%, perfectly in line with our 2019 target set in May 16. Also, we have deployed more than $340,000,000 of capital since 2016 to diversify our revenue line and to expand our decentralized model, while maintaining a consistent capital return policy to our shareholders. So we have delivered value to shareholders in accordance with the targets set in 2016. We have also enhanced our agility.
We have achieved around $24,000,000 of cumulated cost savings since May 16, ahead of our initial $22,000,000 cost saving target, which was the target set for the end of 2019, while keeping, and it's quite important, the restructuring costs related to those cost saving at less than half the amount that was initially anticipated. Also, we continue to roll out Optik, delivering the platform to for market data in 2017 for cash markets in June 2018 and last week for the equity market in Ireland and in Euronext W. The derivatives platform will follow this year. So clearly, we have enhanced our agilities in accordance with the targets set in May 16. 3rd, we have strengthened the resilience of our core business.
Over the last 3 years, we have reported core business growth on an average of 2% per year, exactly as targeted. And since 2017, our market share on cash trading has been on average above 65% higher than the initial target, while our market share on the French equity options has been above 50% as targeted. Finally, with regard to our selected growth initiatives, we reported $17,600,000 of incremental revenue in 2018, mainly thanks to our corporate services franchise. Our tech SME initiatives to attract European tech companies to our market is continuing to gain traction and ETF access or multilateral trading facility for ETFs will be live in 2019. So over the past few years, we have also created clearing optionality for our members as targeted in May 2016 through our investment in EuroCCP in 2016 and more fundamentally the renewed 10 year agreement with LCHSA SA along with an 11.1 percent equity stake in LCH SA and the strong pension right, all these elements having been agreed in August 2017.
So moving now to page to Slide 7. Let me emphasize another major achievement over the past few years. Euronext has changed dimension. Clearly, through a disciplined capital deployment policy, the group has launched a number of external growth initiatives, adding more than $60,000,000 of revenue this year. First, we will come another European exchange into a decentralized model with the acquisition of Euronext Dublin.
Less than a year after closing, Dublin's management is today fully integrated within Euronext governance structure. Last week, we completed the migration of Dublin cash markets to our proprietary trading platform uptick, and Euronext Dublin delivered $24,600,000 of revenue in 2018 as a result of its very strong listing franchise, while we were able to generate already 2,700,000 dollars of run rate synergies. 2nd, we diversified our revenue profile with the acquisition of FastMatch, expanding our footprint into the world of ForEx. And thanks to the commitment of the renewed management team there, Fast Match is generating strong commercial traction and contributing 21,700,000 to our top line this year. 3rd, as announced in 2016, we developed a complete offering of added value solutions for issuers through both organic and external developments.
Euronext Corporate Services now serves more than 1900 clients and generated just under $17,000,000 of revenue this year. And 4th, we will be creating more value for Euronext clients, asset managers and broker dealers with the recent acquisition of Comcise. Clearly, the Comcise solution will allow Euronext to address a strong need generated by MiFID II regulation. 4th in, Euronext has transformed itself over the past 3 years with external and organic growth helping the top line to grow by around €100,000,000 So going forward, we will be reporting performance on a group basis, referring to the group's current scope and including selected growth initiatives and recent acquisitions because the perimeter has changed a lot over the past 3 years. We will be doing this in order to fully reflect the new group and also because most of the 2019 announced targets were met 1 year in advance.
We will be presenting our mid term our new mid term targets in the course of the second half of this year as part of our new strategic plan for 2020, 2021 and 2022. In the meantime, we are now providing cost guidance for the group as a whole for the coming year. So for 2019, Euronext expects to limit group operating expenses, excluding G and A, to low single digit growth compared to last year, euros 260,800,000 of cost, excluding G and A. And despite the consolidation of the full cost base of Euronext Dublin for the full year of 2019. As a reminder, Eurex Dublin costs were consolidated only for the 1st 9 months of 2019.
And in Q1 2018, Euronextabine reported $5,800,000 of cost. I now leave the floor to Giorgio Modica for the detailed presentations of our Q4 financial results.
Thank you, Stefan, and good morning, everyone. As Stefan focused on the results of the full year 2018, I will comment the Euronext financial performance for Q4. Before starting, I would like to highlight that market data and indices activity has been remained advanced data services, while market solution is now reported as Euronext Technologies. We made this change in order to better reflect our product offer and ambitions. Euronext consolidated revenue increased 18,000,000 dollars or 12.6 percent versus the Q4 of 2017 to $157,300,000 dollars This performance mainly benefited from the contribution of new acquisition for $8,700,000 namely Euronext Dublin and Insider Log and the strong performance of the core business with revenue up 7,200,000 dollars Looking now across the different businesses, listing revenue recorded a strong increase to $29,500,000 up 7,800,000 or 32.6 percent.
This performance mainly comes from the consolidation of Euronext Dublin and the performance of corporate services. Trading performance was good across all asset classes with $6,700,000 incremental revenues year on year. Post rate revenue was slightly up $300,000 reflecting stronger derivative ADDs being offset by lower average yield for clearing and an increase in activity in custody and settlement. Advanced Data Services posted good performance with revenue up 7.6 percent or $2,100,000 to 29,800,000 dollars In the Q4 of 2018, non volume related revenue accounted for 45% of total group revenue. These non volume related revenue covered 101% of our cost for the quarter.
Moving now to Slide 11 for listing. Listing profited from the positive contribution of Euronext Dublin for $5,600,000 Corporate service revenues increased $900,000 and as a result, listing revenue increased 36.2% to $29,500,000 Let's focus on equity. 1st, primary market activity improved despite tough market conditions. Indeed, the quarter was marked by the listing of 2 large capitalization in Euronext. Follow-up activity reached a 10 year record this quarter, mainly thanks to 2 jumbo deals, Escilo Luxottica and Worldline 6.
Over the quarter, Euronext welcomed 9 new listings. Moving to debt, our franchise continued to benefit from the consolidation of Euronext Dublin that, as I mentioned, significantly contributed to the growth of revenues. Moving now to Slide 12 for cash trading. Q4 benefited from an improved trading environment. Cash trading revenue increased 8.2 percent to $52,800,000 in the 4th quarter.
This performance is mainly the result of higher volume, strength and yield and a solid market share. More specifically, ADV increased 2.6 percent to €8,100,000,000 like for like. Market share was 66.4%, slightly down versus the previous quarter, mainly due to the high volatility across all markets in October 2018. Finally, as we mentioned, we had a good yield slightly up 1.1% to 0.51 basis points. ETF trading profited from increased volatility and the number of ETFs listed increased to 11.50 at the end of the year.
Moving to Slide 13, derivative revenue reported double digit growth, 15.2 percent to 11,400,000 dollars thanks to increased revenues capture and increased volumes. Derivative yield was up this quarter to EUR0.3 per lot compared EUR0.28 per lot in the Q4 of 2017, mainly as a result of a mix effect with proportionally more index future volumes. ADV were up 8.5% driven by the growth in equity index derivatives supported by the increased volatility level over the quarter. Commodity volumes slightly declined with ADV down 3.7% compared to the Q4 of 2017 after a strong Q2 and Q3 in 2018. Our new market participant program designed to develop the non physical market continue to attract new flows.
Finally, FASMED generated $5,500,000 revenue this quarter with an increase of 26.8 percent versus the Q4 of 2017, thanks to spot FX ADV up 13.7% to $19,500,000,000 and an improved revenue capture. Fast main volumes were supported by the positive market dynamics and new clients on boarding. Now moving to Slide 14, Advanced Data Services recorded good growth this quarter with revenues up 7.6% to $29,800,000 supported by the new market data agreement and the consolidation of Euronext Dublin. Revenue from Euronext Technologies and other revenues increased 8.1% to 9,200,000 dollars The business continued to benefit from uptick, projects work on commercial releases from international clients and from increased activity in managed service solutions. Clearing revenue was stable at $13,400,000 reflecting the slowdown in commodity derivative trading during the quarter and stable treasury income.
Revenue from custody and settlement and other postpaid revenue increased 3.5% to $5,500,000 driven by an increase of public debt under custody at Intervalsa. Now let's move to Slide 11 and let's spend some time in explaining exactly what is happening in the cost base of Euronext in the Q4 of the year. As you know, we do not adjust our number, but clearly, we provide you with all the details to make your own assessment of what happened during the quarter. So the first element that I would like to highlight is that the Q4 of 2018, the core business recorded the 2nd highest EBITDA in the year in absolute amount. So the increase of cost is clearly not related to the core business that continues to generate a very significant level of profitability.
The second element I wanted to highlight is that in Q4, we have a number of costs, which are either one off in nature or nonmonetary costs. And let me go line by line starting from the OpEx. So in the OpEx of the 4th quarter, we had 1,000,000 dollars of one off costs related to the migration in Euronext Dublin to T7 before the migration the final migration to OPTIQ in February. Clearly, this is a one off cost. We have as well around $1,000,000 of cost related to the Dublin integration that are again one off in nature.
And finally, dollars 1,500,000 which is the combination of the advisory cost and legal cost of the acquisition of Comsys and legal cost for the litigation with the former CEO of Fastnedge. So in total, around $3,500,000 of cost in OpEx are at least not recurring. Moving to the exceptional items, dollars 5,500,000 in the quarter, these costs are merely related to $2,000,000 is related to a termination of a commercial agreement that will give the possibility to Euronext to save on a recurring basis around $1,000,000 starting from 2019 and going forward. $1,700,000 is related to cost linked to the sign ups projects And finally, EUR 700,000 is related to the final settlement of the litigation with the former CEO of Fasimax. Now going down to the net financing income is important to highlight that out of the 4,000,000 dollars that you see in the P and L, dollars 3,200,000 are non monetary costs related to the revaluation of by option of some of the companies we acquired majority and we have rights to acquire 100% of the company.
As those companies have performed better than expected, these buy option have been revalued through the P and L. And finally, looking at the results from equity investments, we have around 2,500,000 dollars of impairments related to the sign ups project that as we highlighted in the Q3, we do not expect that will generate revenues in 20 19. Another element that I wanted to highlight is the base effect with the Q4 of 2017. The first element that I want to share with you is that there was a tax release in the Q4 of 2017 of around $2,000,000 that went to the line other expenses, which is one off. And over and above that, as Stephane mentioned, we had $40,600,000 of exceptional capital gain coming from the swap of the ACH shares and $20,400,000 of exceptional tax release in the tax line.
Finally, last consideration is about the cost and integration of Euronext Dublin. We were able to reach at the end of the Q4 20 18, dollars 2,700,000 of run rate synergies. Now after the completion of the migration to OPTIX, this will add another significant contribution to the achieved savings, which are today achieved at around and over 80% of the target, which is €8,000,000 Again, an important element to highlight is that we are talking about run rate achievements so that the full effect to the P and L is going to accrue throughout the full year of 2019. Then finally, moving to Slide 20, over the last year, 63.1 percent of Q4 EBITDA was transformed into net operating cash flow. This slight decrease compared to 2017 is explained by higher tax payment.
As far as leverage is concerned, our net debt remains limited, leaving us with significant strategic and financial flexibility. Looking at the bottom of the slide, at the end of the Q4 of 2018, our liquidity position remained strong, close to 650,000,000 dollars This includes our undrawn RCA for $250,000,000 I now hand over the floor back to Stephane Buschner.
So thank you, Georgios. So moving to the slide on the also Versa acquisition. I will update you now on our tender offer for Oslo Versed VPS. So as you know, we have announced on Monday that we decided to increase the price of our offer to NOK 158 plus a 6% interest payment. We do this because we want to make Osterberg VPS a leader in the Nordic.
We believe that this transaction is the right one for OsoBersch VPS and for Euronext, because together we want to grow the OsoBerskVPS business. We want to ensure a fair and really competitive environment in the Nordics to the benefit of all the Nordic clients. So also, Burj VPS will become the Euronext development hub and the real launch pad of Euronext for expansion in the Nordics. Oslo will be the headquarters of all the Euronext future activities in the Nordic region, but also will become the European Group level center of excellence for all our activities in the commodities business across the continent. We are confident that our industrial project offers superior prospects to Oslo going forward to grow and develop as a leading platform in the Nordics and this is reflected in our updated price.
We hope the shareholders of Oslo versus VPS will appreciate this, including the majority of the shareholders who have already committed to tender their shares to Euronext. You will note that 22 shareholders representing together with the shares we directly owned in OsobWorks EPS 38% of the shares in the company, extended the long stop date of their irrevocable pre commitment until the end of 2019, showing their continuous support to our project. We also increased our price to keep a constructive dialogue with the minority shareholders who haven't yet decided and who haven't yet tendered our shares to Euronext. As we all know, the Board of Osoburs EPS has committed itself not to recommend or offer under any circumstances. Nevertheless, we remain very eager and committed to engage and discuss with the Board in a constructive manner the best way forward.
We remind everyone that our offer is open to all shoulders until the 11th March 2019, but it could be extended. As for the timing of this transaction, we are confident that we will complete the transaction by the end of Q2 2019. We have filed our acquisition to finance Filcisnap, which is the Norwegian FSA on the January 14, 2019, the very day we filed our offer. The Norwegian FSA needs to assess whether Euronext is fit and the proper and suitable owner for also for VPS. We understand that their decision is not dependent on how many potential buyers are willing to buy Osoforce and their decision together with the decision of the Ministry of Finance has to be released within 4 months following the applications plus 20 days for Q and A.
So Euronext is already regulated and fit and proper and suitable owner in our 6 core countries, namely Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom. So in line with applicable laws and regulation in Norway, we expect the decision of the Ministry of Finance following the advice of the Norwegian FSA to be issued between the end of May mid June. A quick word on the following page on the combined financials of OsoBourse VPX with Euronext. Together, we will represent more than $720,000,000 of annual revenue. OsoBurs will contribute to the diversification of Euronext top line because clearly custody and settlement will have an increased weight in the combined entity revenue around 10% compared to today 3.6 percent of Videorenx standalone contribution in this revenue line.
And if we move to the following page about the geographic breakdown, you will notice that also Borje EPS will represent more than 15% of Euronext revenue and will become the 3rd largest revenue contributor of the group. We have commented extensively on the rationale of the transaction and the benefits for Onex and also Borst VPS on the covenant structure that we offer at group level to the Norwegian voices to have an impact and influence on the group. So I will not come back now during this call for the sake of time. But please, if you want additional information on this particular ongoing transaction, do not hesitate to ask during the Q and A. So before we open up for questions, allow me to reiterate the main points we have covered today.
1st, 2018 was a strong and successful year for Eurowanx. 2nd, we achieved in 2018 most of the Agility for Growth strategic targets for 2019. 3rd, we will report performance going forward for the group as a whole within the new consolidated perimeter. 4, we will present the new mid term targets for the new strategic plan for the years 2020, 2021, 2022 in the course of the 2nd semester of this year. And meanwhile, for 2019, we will follow our new cost target of low single digit growth for expenses, while we will have the full year impact of the Euronext doubling cost base.
And finally, we are determined and confident regarding our offer for Oslo if everything goes there in accordance with applicable laws and regulation in Norway. Thank you. We are now available for your questions with Antoni Atia, member of the Managing Board of Euronext and our CFO, Georgiou Modica.
Thank you. We have a first question from Arnaud Giblas from Exane. Sir, please go ahead.
Questions please. First on costs. I mean you gave some good guidance on around the cost base in terms of the addition next year of 1 quarter's worth of costs from Dublin minus some run rate synergies. So broadly, that should keep the cost about flat. And then you're indicating for low single digit percentage increase in the cost base.
So I'm wondering what specifically are you doing? Are you investing in new projects? Or is this just inflation? If you could give us a bit of granularity around why the cost would go up low single digit, that would be helpful. My second question is on Oslo BOSS.
How reliant do you think the FSA and the Ministry of Finance are on the board recommendation? Do you think that is a key input into the decision? Or is it just a fit and proper decision in your opinion? And thirdly, staying on the subject of MLA, are you still working on deals? Have you got any other potential acquisitions that you might be looking at at an advanced stage?
Thank you.
So, I'll take your second and your third question and Georgiou will comment on your first questions on cost. So on the overall M and A landscape, yes, we continue to explore, monitor, analyze, engage into situations that can help us achieving our ambitions, which is either to expand or decentralize model to offer single country exchanges and opportunity to be part of global or European platform, hence the current dialogue we have in Norway. But in parallel, we have discussions and we look at opportunities to diversify our top line through the acquisitions of non volume related type of assets. So there is no change in this respect and we look for ways to optimize the deployment of our shareholders' capital in the most efficient way to create value going forward. On Autoburst, as I said, the existing applicable laws and regulation in Norway create a situation where the only decision they have to take is whether Euronax is fit proper and suitable owner of Ossobores.
So if applicable laws and regulations are addressed as we they have to be addressed in accordance with the pre bidding rules. We are confident that this transaction will be completed by the end of June. There is no indication in the current law that the FSA nor the Ministry of Finance has any discretion to select the bidder, nor that they can change on the ship rules or thresholds. The legal position is very clear in this respect. So we don't anticipate the authorities in Norway to do anything else that what is provided for in applicable Norwegian rules and regulations.
So the Board of Recommendation is at a point in the situation. But let me remind you that there is another data point which is as relevant as the Board recommendation, which is that the majority of the shareholders have decided to sell their shares to Euronext. The majority of the shareholders in the company have invited shareholders have invited bidders to submit an offer. The majority of the shareholders in the company have decided that Euronext was the best bidder. The majority of the shareholders of Oslo has no benefiting are not benefiting from a price which is higher than the one proposed by Nasdaq for a minority of the shares.
So this is another data point, which I guess will be appreciated. So my reply to you is that look at the decisions made by the shareholders who are fundamentally the owner of the company and look at the detailed substance of applicable laws and regulations and you have the answer to your question. Now over to you, George, with the cost.
Yes, absolutely. Moving to the cost, what I would highlight is important to highlight is the fact that the cost savings that were achieved at the end of 4th quarter were run rate As the cost savings that we have achieved today with the migration to OPTIC and run rate as well, which means that if on one side 100% of the synergies have been completely secure as we speak, The benefit in terms of actual reduction of cost is going to phase out throughout the full year of 2019. And this is the reason why we are not expecting to increase our cost base, but the full benefit is going to accrue over time. And this is the reason why we gave the guidelines we proposed. So this is the first element.
The second element, it is clear as well that before the end of this year, you will have another guideline on cost that is going to be part of the strategic plan that is going to be released in the second half. So you should look at these guidelines as a kind of intermediate guidelines to for your assessment in the next couple of quarters.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Anil Sharma from Morgan Stanley. Go ahead.
Morning. Yes, just two questions, please. Just on Oslo. So I think you mentioned at the time that you announced the original bid that you would give an update on the number of sort of irrevocables you've had today. But I noticed there's kind of nothing in the press release.
So was wondering if you could give us an update on that front. And then the second one, I think you mentioned that by the end of May or mid June, you should get a decision. So that's obviously pretty it's not that far away. So the board and the management team, I imagine, are planning or thinking about what happens in the event that the deal is not successful. So I just wondered if you could talk us through how you're thinking about capital because obviously in 2016 and even in 2017, you guys were pretty explicit that if you didn't do significant M and A, you would return the capital to shareholders.
So I just want to understand how we should be thinking about things.
Okay. So as I said, the timing of transaction is framed by applicable laws and regulations. The Ministry of Finance has all in 4 months plus 20 days for Q and As to release its decision and we filed our offer and our filing to the authorities at the 14th January. So we expect a decision by the end of Q2 at the latest. We are exploring other ways to deploy our capital.
And as we have said on many occasions, we look at the end of 2019 where we are in terms of deployment of capital. And depending on where we are, we may decide to offer to or to propose to our shareholders to proceed with the exceptional distribution if we have not been in a position to deploy our capital. What was your first question? The oh wait, did you recover? Sorry, sorry, sorry.
We do not disclose at this moment because we don't have to the level of acceptance and the level of ownership in the company, but we do it in due course in accordance with the applicable laws and regulation in Norway.
Okay. Thank you.
Next question from Anilak Bar from Kempen and Co. Please go ahead.
Sorry, I had one question regarding volumes. Volumes in January were considerably weak. And what we see is that like other parties that have shown that, for example, on the ETP side, you showed a considerable decline whereas like other parties showed that like on ETPs in European volume, the ETP European volumes had remained the same for them, which I'm talking more about the liquidity providers versus you guys. What exactly is happening over there in January? And has the situation sort of become a bit better from that?
That's the only question I have.
Yes, absolutely. So clearly, usually the 1st couple of week of January tend to be slow, but this tendency has now become a little bit more recurring. Clearly, we don't see the level of volumes today as normalized, but it is very difficult to project. We assume that later in the year, there is going to be a pickup in volumes risk appetite of investor and around the outcome of Brexit. So it's difficult to elaborate more than that.
So it's, I believe, too early to make a final assessment of how the volumes will look like through the year of 2019.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Albert Plueck from B&GA. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes, good morning. You also have two questions basically from my end as well. Following the, let's say, the new offer for the Oslo exchange, has there been any form of dialogue with the management team? Or is the situation basically today hostile, so on non speaking terms? And the second question would be a bit also on the cost guidance, but then more, let's say, on the incidental items, you clearly undershoot your EUR 33,000,000 restructuring target for, let's say, the existing business.
But looking at 2019, of course, with the smaller position you did and with the Dublin integration, okay, progressing very well, but should we anticipate some one off item for incidentals for 2019 as well? Some color there would be helpful. Thank you.
Okay. So we have met the management and the Board of Osterholm VPS before they took the decision to recommend the NASDAQ offer. Since then, we didn't have any conversations with them. But we are available and we extend an invitation to have a dialogue with them because the reality of the situation is the one we have described, which is Euronext offer has been supported by the majority of the shareholders in the company. And we all need to think positively about the future.
Also, we have extended an invitation to DNB and KLP, if they're so designed to remain a minority shareholder in Oslo after the transaction is completed. And we have even offered them, if they want to remain close to the project at group level to become members of the group of reference holders of Euronext at group level. So we are open and eager to engage into a constructive dialogues with all the relevant parties.
On the
cost side, Georgi will answer your question.
Absolutely. So on the cost side, what I can tell you is that, as I said, now on a run rate perspective, the vast majority of synergies have been delivered after the migration. And what is left to deliver is a standing which is more on a contractual basis that is going to come in towards the second half of this year. When it comes to restructuring costs, you should not have surprises. So there is not a backlog of restructuring costs that will impact 2019.
More specifically on Dublin, the vast majority of restructuring costs have been already incurred, which means not 100% of it, but what you should expect for 2019 is a low number in a low single digit million number for this year. So the very limited impact on 2019.
Thank you. Very clear.
Next question from Gurjit Kambo from JPMorgan.
Two questions. Firstly, just in terms of the EBITDA margin, because I think going forward, you're not going to split out the core and the new perimeter. So given your margin was around sort of 58% level, should we still expect the group combined margin to still see some sort of improvement going forward? That's the first question. And then secondly, just in terms of the Board of Oslo, maybe it's a bit unfair question, maybe it's a question for the Oslo Board.
But in terms of the them sort of recommending, I guess, the deal with NASDAQ, Is there synergies? Or is there some sort of benefit of having the wider Scandi franchise that they may be thinking about? So just any thoughts around that please?
I don't want to comment on the view of the Board because the Board has not articulated very precisely their views on this matter. What I can tell you is that there's 2 things that are very important. This deal has not been solicited the Euronet offer has not been solicited by the Board of Osobursk, but it has been solicited by the majority of the shareholders. So what is unusual in this situation is a group of Norwegian shareholders inviting process selecting majority of them Euronext as the buyer of the company and the Board having a different view from the majority of its shareholders. 2nd, what I can tell you is that we offer something which is fundamentally different from the NASDAQ proposal.
NASDAQ has an offer with certain conditions for completions, 90% conditions for completion. We have a 50 0.1% conditions. They have a MAC clause. We don't have a MAC clause. They have an antitrust review, which is a part of the answer to your question in Sweden, in Norway and in the U.
K. We don't have antitrust review. So we are in a different environment because what we are offering is to make Oslo the Euronext anchor in the Nordic for the Nordic ambition of the Euronext group. What Nasdaq is proposing is to complete a Nordic monopoly, which for the moment is not complete. What we're offering is to maintain competition in the Nordics between the dynamic also versus launchpad for Nordic ambitions alongside Nasdaq.
What they are offering is a different competitive environment solution. What we are offering is to make the Norwegian voices part of the managing board of YourNEXT with the CEO of Orso Voorst becoming a full fledged member of the Managing Board of Euronext, a leading figure of the Norwegian financial community to become a member of the supervisory board of Euronext, the Norwegian FSA to become part of the College of Regulators of Euronext and a strong Board with independent Norwegian members and representative of employees to be in position in Oslo, which is very different from the proposal of Nasdaq, which is all about making also both a subsidiary or a branch of a regional entity headquartered in Stockholm, which is controlled by an international group in Wall Street with the leading the largest shareholder being in Dubai. It's a very, very different project.
Now coming on your question on EBITDA, we do not guide on short term revenue targets. The part of the equation which is missing for the EBITDA 2019 given the target we provided the cost guidance. So I can answer your question saying clearly throughout the cycle, we have the possibility to improve the margin we have today. Then on a more short term basis, clearly, we would be affected by changes volatility and volumes. And given the beginning of the year, it's very difficult to provide the short term guidelines for the end of this year.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Johan Thormann from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everybody. Johan Thormann, HSBC. Three topics for me as well. First of all, on your market shares and equity options, could you update us on your Dutch market share? And also, like I have a feeling you should have a much higher market share because you own the underlying cash pool.
Secondly, on your financial result, could you give us some more details on the revaluation of the earnouts for which companies? Is this for Fast Me Choices in Corporate Services? And last but not least, on the Oslo Board, two follow-up questions. First of all, would you be really running willing to run this company with a 35% minority shareholder Nasdaq? And what are the M and A costs so far?
Thank you.
So when it comes to your second question around the buy option, this is related to inside the log and the company webcast, so there is no impact coming from FasMedge. On your first question on our market share in the Netherlands, I mean, what I can tell I cannot disclose the exact number, but what I can tell you is that it remains very strong and significantly above 50%. So there is no decline in the market share after the closing of TORM here in the Netherlands.
And on your question about our objective, we have an offer that has a 50.1 percent conditions, which has already been met. We are happy to have minority shareholders running not running, but minority shareholders in Oslo. I think it's up to every shareholder to decide whether they want to stay minority shareholders in the company that is controlled by Euronext going forward. But the conditions are the same and the invitation are the same irrespective of who are the minority shareholders.
And the M and A cost, please, so far as one offs?
M and A cost.
I mean the M and A cost that we have in the quarter, as I mentioned, I did not give the breakdown, but is a component of $1,500,000 that you have in OpEx, but it includes as well legal expenses and the cost of the legal litigation with the former CEO of Fasmuch. So in total, these three items account for around $1,500,000
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Ron Eiden Braek from ABN AMRO. Sir, please go ahead.
Good morning all. A few questions from my side. Firstly, to come back on a situation where the regulator would both feel you as well as NASDAQ is fit and proper to do the Oslo bourse. Would a significant minority shareholder like that, would it impede your integration efforts and your synergy potential from the Oslo BOSS transaction? Secondly, on the M and A cost to come back on that, could you maybe give an insight on how much M and A cost we should put in our model, rough numbers for the Oslo transaction in Q1 and Q2?
And then two clarification questions, please. Firstly, on the incidental items, did I understand correctly that for 2019, we should have exceptionals, a single digit €1,000,000 number for the full year 'nineteen? And the second clarification is on the 5 €500,000 exceptionals in the Q4. I wrote down that €200,000 was for commercial agreement finalization and €500,000 was for the final settlement with the CEO of Fast Match, but I missed the rest. Thank you.
The answer to your first question is clear. Nothing in the presence of a minority shareholder will prevent us if we meet if the transaction is completed to achieve the synergies we are planning to deploy. And that's absolutely clear.
Yes. So coming to your question, the first one is clearly, we cannot give you the exact number for the M and A advisory costs related to Oslo, but there are a few things that I can say. The first one is clearly that banking advisory fees are on a success basis and that we are paying all our advisor on market rate. And given the size of the transaction, I guess, you can make an estimate of that. When it comes to the restructuring cost, what I said is that the vast majority of the restructuring costs related to the planned Agility for Growth have been spent and you should not expect an increase in spillover in 2019.
When it comes to the specific restructuring costs related to Dublin, again, the vast majority of that has been spent in 2018. What is left to be spent in 2019 is a low single digit million number for the rest of 2019. Finally, on your question on the exception, so 2,000,000 dollars is the termination of a commercial agreement that against the payment of these one off costs, we will be able to save on a recurring basis $1,000,000 going forward starting from 2019. The rest of the the bulk of the rest is $1,700,000 is exceptional cost related to our sign ups project that as we commented in the Q3, we do not anticipate to provide revenues for 2019. And as you correctly pointed out, €700,000,000 is related to the final settlement with the former CEO of Fast Match for €700,000 The rest are smaller items that in total account for around an additional €1,000,000 but it's not worthwhile to provide further breakdown.
Perfect. Thank you.
Thank you. We don't have any questions for the We don't have any questions for the moment. Back to you for the conclusion, sir.
Thank you very much for your time and have a good day.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.