Aquis Exchange (AIM:AQX) - Share price, News & Analysis

AQX fundamental analysis
Snowflake Score
Valuation	1/6
Future Growth	4/6
Past Performance	5/6
Financial Health	6/6
Dividends	0/6

AQX Stock Overview

Aquis Exchange PLC operates as a multilateral trading facility in Europe.

Rewards

Earnings are forecast to grow 14.16% per year

Earnings grew by 339.1% over the past year

Risk Analysis

High level of non-cash earnings

Aquis Exchange Competitors

IntegraFin Holdings

LSE:IHP

UK£908.5m

ADVFN

AIM:AFN

UK£13.4m

Mercia Asset Management

AIM:MERC

UK£129.8m

Livermore Investments Group

AIM:LIV

UK£90.9m

Price History & Performance

Summary of all time highs, changes and price drops for Aquis Exchange
Historical stock prices
Current Share Price	UK£4.40
52 Week High	UK£7.33
52 Week Low	UK£3.40
Beta	0.49
1 Month Change	13.40%
3 Month Change	-11.56%
1 Year Change	-35.77%
3 Year Change	-9.47%
5 Year Change	n/a
Change since IPO	18.92%

Shareholder Returns

	AQX	GB Capital Markets	GB Market
7D	10.8%	1.6%	0.8%
1Y	-35.8%	-13.5%	-6.4%

Return vs Industry: AQX underperformed the UK Capital Markets industry which returned -14.6% over the past year.

Return vs Market: AQX underperformed the UK Market which returned -6.8% over the past year.

Price Volatility

Is AQX's price volatile compared to industry and market?
AQX volatility
AQX Average Weekly Movement	4.2%
Capital Markets Industry Average Movement	4.6%
Market Average Movement	5.4%
10% most volatile stocks in GB Market	10.8%
10% least volatile stocks in GB Market	2.7%

Stable Share Price: AQX is not significantly more volatile than the rest of UK stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 4% a week.

Volatility Over Time: AQX's weekly volatility (4%) has been stable over the past year.

About the Company

Founded	Employees	CEO	Website
2012	54	Alasdair Frederick Haynes	https://www.aquis.eu

Aquis Exchange PLC operates as a multilateral trading facility in Europe. The company operates through three segments: Aquis Exchange, Aquis Stock Exchange, and Aquis Technologies. It also provides exchange and regulatory technology to third parties.

Aquis Exchange Fundamentals Summary

How do Aquis Exchange's earnings and revenue compare to its market cap?
AQX fundamental statistics
Market Cap	UK£117.64m
Earnings (TTM)	UK£4.31m
Revenue (TTM)	UK£17.18m

27.8x

P/E Ratio

7.0x

P/S Ratio

Is AQX overvalued?

See Fair Value and valuation analysis

Earnings & Revenue

Key profitability statistics from the latest earnings report
AQX income statement (TTM)
Revenue	UK£17.18m
Cost of Revenue	UK£11.93m
Gross Profit	UK£5.25m
Other Expenses	UK£941.59k
Earnings	UK£4.31m

Last Reported Earnings

Dec 31, 2021

Next Earnings Date

n/a

Earnings per share (EPS)	0.16
Gross Margin	30.57%
Net Profit Margin	25.09%
Debt/Equity Ratio	0%

How did AQX perform over the long term?

See historical performance and comparison

We’ve recently updated our valuation analysis.

Valuation

Is AQX undervalued compared to its fair value, analyst forecasts and its price relative to the market?

Valuation Score

1/6

Valuation Score 1/6

Price-To-Earnings vs Peers
Price-To-Earnings vs Industry
Price-To-Earnings vs Fair Ratio
Below Fair Value
Significantly Below Fair Value
Analyst Forecast

Key Valuation Metric

Which metric is best to use when looking at relative valuation for AQX?

Other financial metrics that can be useful for relative valuation.

The above table shows the n/a ratio for AQX. This is calculated by dividing AQX's market cap by their current preferred multiple.
What is AQX's n/a Ratio?
n/a Ratio	0x
n/a	n/a
Market Cap	UK£117.64m

AQX key valuation metrics and ratios. From Price to Earnings, Price to Sales and Price to Book to Price to Earnings Growth Ratio, Enterprise Value and EBITDA.
Key Statistics
Enterprise Value/Revenue	6.2x
Enterprise Value/EBITDA	29.7x
PEG Ratio	2x

Price to Earnings Ratio vs Peers

How does AQX's PE Ratio compare to its peers?

AQX PE Ratio vs Peers

The above table shows the PE ratio for AQX vs its peers. Here we also display the market cap and forecasted growth for additional consideration.
Company	PE	Estimated Growth	Market Cap
Peer Average	8.9x
IHP IntegraFin Holdings	17.6x	0.7%	UK£908.5m
AFN ADVFN	8.6x	n/a	UK£13.4m
MERC Mercia Asset Management	5x	-109.7%	UK£129.8m
LIV Livermore Investments Group	4.5x	n/a	UK£90.9m
AQX Aquis Exchange	27.8x	14.2%	UK£117.6m

Price-To-Earnings vs Peers: AQX is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (27.8x) compared to the peer average (8.9x).

Price to Earnings Ratio vs Industry

How does AQX's PE Ratio compare vs other companies in the GB Capital Markets Industry?

Price-To-Earnings vs Industry: AQX is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (27.8x) compared to the UK Capital Markets industry average (10x)

Price to Earnings Ratio vs Fair Ratio

What is AQX's PE Ratio compared to its Fair PE Ratio? This is the expected PE Ratio taking into account the company's forecast earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors.

AQX PE Ratio vs Fair Ratio.
Fair Ratio
Current PE Ratio	27.8x
Fair PE Ratio	16.8x

Price-To-Earnings vs Fair Ratio: AQX is expensive based on its Price-To-Earnings Ratio (27.8x) compared to the estimated Fair Price-To-Earnings Ratio (16.8x).

Share Price vs Fair Value

What is the Fair Price of AQX when looking at its future cash flows? For this estimate we use a Discounted Cash Flow model.

Below Fair Value: Insufficient data to calculate AQX's fair value for valuation analysis.

Significantly Below Fair Value: Insufficient data to calculate AQX's fair value for valuation analysis.

Analyst Price Targets

What is the analyst 12-month forecast and do we have any statistical confidence in the consensus price target?

Analyst Forecast: Target price is more than 20% higher than the current share price and analysts are within a statistically confident range of agreement.

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Future Growth

How is Aquis Exchange forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 4 analysts?

Future Growth Score

4/6

Future Growth Score 4/6

Earnings vs Savings Rate
Earnings vs Market
High Growth Earnings
Revenue vs Market
High Growth Revenue
Future ROE

14.2%

Forecasted annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts

Analyst Future Growth Forecasts

Earnings vs Savings Rate: AQX's forecast earnings growth (14.2% per year) is above the savings rate (0.9%).

Earnings vs Market: AQX's earnings (14.2% per year) are forecast to grow faster than the UK market (10% per year).

High Growth Earnings: AQX's earnings are forecast to grow, but not significantly.

Revenue vs Market: AQX's revenue (16.3% per year) is forecast to grow faster than the UK market (4.1% per year).

High Growth Revenue: AQX's revenue (16.3% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts

Future Return on Equity

Future ROE: AQX's Return on Equity is forecast to be high in 3 years time (21%)

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Past Performance

How has Aquis Exchange performed over the past 5 years?

Past Performance Score

5/6

Past Performance Score 5/6

Quality Earnings
Growing Profit Margin
Earnings Trend
Accelerating Growth
Earnings vs Industry
High ROE

78.9%

Historical annual earnings growth

Earnings and Revenue History

Quality Earnings: AQX has a high level of non-cash earnings.

Growing Profit Margin: AQX's current net profit margins (25.1%) are higher than last year (8.6%).

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: AQX has become profitable over the past 5 years, growing earnings by 78.9% per year.

Accelerating Growth: AQX's earnings growth over the past year (339.1%) exceeds its 5-year average (78.9% per year).

Earnings vs Industry: AQX earnings growth over the past year (339.1%) exceeded the Capital Markets industry 25.4%.

Return on Equity

High ROE: AQX's Return on Equity (22%) is considered high.

Discover strong past performing companies

Financial Health

How is Aquis Exchange's financial position?

Financial Health Score

6/6

Financial Health Score 6/6

Short Term Liabilities
Long Term Liabilities
Debt Level
Reducing Debt
Debt Coverage
Interest Coverage

Financial Position Analysis

Short Term Liabilities: AQX's short term assets (£17.8M) exceed its short term liabilities (£3.8M).

Long Term Liabilities: AQX's short term assets (£17.8M) exceed its long term liabilities (£3.4M).

Debt to Equity History and Analysis

Debt Level: AQX is debt free.

Reducing Debt: AQX has not had any debt for past 5 years.

Debt Coverage: AQX has no debt, therefore it does not need to be covered by operating cash flow.

Interest Coverage: AQX has no debt, therefore coverage of interest payments is not a concern.

Balance Sheet

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Dividend

What is Aquis Exchange current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?

Dividend Score

0/6

Dividend Score 0/6

Notable Dividend
High Dividend
Stable Dividend
Growing Dividend
Earnings Coverage
Cash Flow Coverage

Dividend Yield vs Market

Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate AQX's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.

High Dividend: Unable to evaluate AQX's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.

Stability and Growth of Payments

Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if AQX's dividends per share have been stable in the past.

Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if AQX's dividend payments have been increasing.

Earnings Payout to Shareholders

Earnings Coverage: Insufficient data to calculate payout ratio to determine if its dividend payments are covered by earnings.

Cash Payout to Shareholders

Cash Flow Coverage: Unable to calculate sustainability of dividends as AQX has not reported any payouts.

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Management

How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?

2.6yrs

Average management tenure

CEO

Alasdair Frederick Haynes (62 yo)

10.58yrs

Tenure

UK£675,113

Compensation

Mr. Alasdair Haynes founded Aquis Exchange Plc (formerly known as Aquis Exchange Limited) in 2012 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Haynes serves as an Executive Officer of FIX Protocol Ltd. M...

CEO Compensation Analysis

Compensation vs Market: Alasdair Frederick's total compensation ($USD817.76K) is above average for companies of similar size in the UK market ($USD336.69K).

Compensation vs Earnings: Alasdair Frederick's compensation has increased by more than 20% in the past year.

Leadership Team

Experienced Management: AQX's management team is considered experienced (2.6 years average tenure).

Board Members

Experienced Board: AQX's board of directors are not considered experienced ( 2.2 years average tenure), which suggests a new board.

Ownership

Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?

Insider Trading Volume

Insider Buying: Insufficient data to determine if insiders have bought more shares than they have sold in the past 3 months.

Recent Insider Transactions

Ownership Breakdown

Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.

Data	Last Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis	2022/08/08 00:00
End of Day Share Price	2022/08/08 00:00
Earnings	2021/12/31
Annual Earnings	2021/12/31