Saxo Bank Continues International Expansion With New Office in Prague

PRAGUE - Saxo Bank, the Online Trading and Investment Specialist, Today Announces the Opening of a New Office in Prague Following a Year Where the Bank Tripled its Business in the CEE Region.

The opening of the Prague office is a strategic move by Saxo Bank to strengthen and expand its position as a leading provider of online solutions for investment in Forex, stocks, stock derivatives, commodities and bonds in Central Eastern Europe.

Saxo Bank increased its business in the CEE region by 212% in 2008 compared to 2007 and intends to grow its client and partner base by offering a more extensive local service and a wider range of investment products.

The Prague office will be headed by Karol Piovarcsy, who says: “Sustainable success is driven by customer focus and the new office, the first in the Central Eastern European region, will enable us to have greater access to clients and partners in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. While clients will continue to benefit from Saxo Bank’s aggregated Tier-1 liquidity and technology, the new office will enable us to enhance education both through our own products and through increased partnerships with institutional partners.”

Founded in 1992 by joint CEOs, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, 2008 was another record year in terms of income and profit for Saxo Bank. Operating income ended at EUR 338 million, an increase of 61% year-on-year. Reaching EUR 85 million in 2008, EBITDA grew 43% over 2007 while net profit increased 23% to EUR 45.5 million.

In a joint statement Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen says: “Opening an office in Prague is the next step in our European expansion and international growth strategy. Since 1992, when Saxo Bank was founded, we have watched the Central Eastern European countries grow with remarkable speed and determination. Saxo Bank has since had great success in this region and the new office will enable us to provide a more comprehensive on-the-ground service to clients and potential clients in the region.”

A fully licensed and regulated European bank, Saxo Bank offers the traders from CEE region a 20-day free demonstration account at www.saxobank.cz; www.saxobank.sk; www.saxobank.pl. A Saxo Bank account gives traders access to three interlinked platforms: SaxoWebTrader, SaxoTrader (cz.saxobank.com/CZ/trader/intro.asp) and SaxoMobileTrader. Saxo Bank recently launched the SaxoMobileTrader for iPhone(TM) and iPod Touch(TM) which allow a user to stay updated with the markets, view their account status, and fully manage their positions and orders across multiple asset classes. This application is complementing the SaxoMobileTrader for BlackBerry(TM).

More information

www.saxobank.cz

www.saxobank.sk

Source: Saxo Bank

Media enquiries: Kasper Elbjorn, Head of Group Public Relations, Saxo Bank, +45-3065-4300, press at saxobank.com. Slavka Bila, PR Coordinator, Saxo Bank Prague, +420-22-620-1583, slb at saxobank.com