The group generated a turnover of €44.6M in the first quarter of 2006: up 3.6% based on reported figures. Organic growth (excluding Oasis, which was acquired
during 2005) was 1.7%. With a growth of nearly 14%, the Asia-Pacific region was
once again a strong contributor to these results. The Americas also put in a strong performance, with an organic growth of 8.5% (27.6% including turnover from Oasis).

Strong sales of middle to back office solutions and risk management products confirms the group’s strategy of enriching its product lines, which it has been doing for several years now, in particular since the acquisition of MSTS and Ubitrade. As expected, Fermat, which produced exceptionally strong, but mainly non-recurrent turnover in 2005, showed a drop in sales over the first quarter.

Outlook

The group is continuing its optimisation programme of ensuring continued excellent levels of service whilst maintaining tight cost controls. In 2005, turnover in certain areas (notably Fermat) was exceptionally high. Taking into account these non-recurrent factors, GL TRADE has set itself the target of a turnover growth for 2006 of between 2% and 5%, based on reported figures.