At first glance, everything that SIX announced on Wednesday morning looks promising. Last year, SIX recorded solid growth in all four business units: the Group generated operating income of 1.6 billion Swiss francs in 2024, which corresponds to growth of 4.6 percent adjusted for exchange rate effects, or 4 percent at reported exchange rates.

A value adjustment was made to the Group's 10.5 percent stake in the European payment transaction provider Worldline in the fourth quarter. The value was reduced by 167.7 million francs due to the share price performance.

EBITDA amounted to 443.7 million francs, an increase of 3.6 percent. The bottom line was a consolidated profit of 38.7 million francs. In the previous year, the company had suffered a loss of 1.01 billion following write-downs on the Wordline investment and the Spanish stock exchange BME. Adjusted for value adjustments, consolidated profit rose by 12 percent to 204.4 million francs, compared to 181.9 million francs in 2023.

The Board of Directors is proposing an ordinary dividend of 5.30 francs per share to the Annual General Meeting, which is 10 centimes more than in the previous year.

Three-Year Plan to Increase Earnings

At the same time, SIX announced a so-called «Scale Up 2027» program. The aim is to increase the earning power of the entire Group.

«By the end of 2027, SIX is aiming for revenue growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range and an improvement in the EBITDA margin from 28 percent in 2024 to over 40 percent,» the press release states.

This goal is to be achieved by accelerating the Group's growth strategy and making better use of its business mix.

To this end, SIX intends to reduce costs by more than 120 million francs over the next three years. «This may involve a reduction of around 150 jobs across the Group by the end of 2025, some of which would be achieved through natural attrution and early retirements,» writes the infrastructure operator of the Swiss financial center.

SDX To Be Integrated into Securities Services

The company is also planning to integrate SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) into the Securities Services business unit. SDX has successfully established the digital financial market infrastructure for the Swiss financial center. More than 1.5 billion francs in digital assets have been issued here and the digital exchange has established itself as a global leader in the area of digital fixed-income securities.

The integration is intended to leverage existing synergies and fully exploit the potential of SDX as part of its broader ecosystem. The Group will make greater use of SDX's technology in the future and continue to drive innovation within SIX and in its key partnerships with the Swiss National Bank and the Helvetia pilot project.