Van Der Moolen: Net Income of Euro 54 Million in the First Half of 2001; Acquisitions of NYSE Specialist Firms Scavone and Stern & Kennedy Completed

Business Wire, August 2, 2001

Business Editors

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2001

Van der Moolen N.V., Amsterdam's leading specialist, market maker and interdealer broker, today announced that net income from ordinary activities came to Euro 54.0 million in the first half of 2001, a 24% decline from the first half of 2000.

Income per common share from ordinary activities declined by 27% to Euro 1.41 compared with Euro 1.94 for the first half of the previous year. In the first half of 2001, Van der Moolen closed 93% of its trading days with a positive trading result.

In the second quarter of 2001 net income from ordinary activities declined 31% from the same period of 2000, to Euro 23.2 million. Net income from ordinary activities per common share declined by 34%, from Euro 0.91 to Euro 0.60. In the second quarter, 95% of trading days were closed at a profit.

On August 1, 2001, Van der Moolen closed the acquisition of the NYSE specialist firms Scavone, McKenna, Cloud & Co. LLC and Stern & Kennedy LLC.

                  Key Figures Van der Moolen Holding

  2nd quarter     %    millions of Euro's            1st half      %
  2001    2000  change                             2001    2000 change
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----
E  81.2 E 112.0 - 28%  Gross Revenues            E 181.9 E 229.4 - 21%
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----
   37.8    64.3 - 41%  Income before tax            94.6   133.5 - 29%
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----
   23.2    33.8 - 31%  Net income from ordinary     54.0    70.7 - 24%
                         activities
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----
  309.9   201.1   54%  Guarantee capital           309.9   201.1   54%
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----

                      per share figures in Euro's
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----
E  0.60 E  0.91 - 34%  Income per common share    E 1.41 E  1.94 - 27%
                         from ordinary activities
------- ------- -----  ------------------------- ------- ------- -----

Earnings Outlook

As previously indicated, Van der Moolen expects that, assuming recent market conditions persist and including expected contributions from three recently completed acquisitions, net income from ordinary activities for the entire year 2001 will be about 25% less than achieved in 2000 - that is, slightly above Euro 100 million. As previously indicated, apart from this an extraordinary gain of over Euro 30 million was achieved from the sale of shares in Euronext N.V.

First Half 2001

In the first half of 2001, equity trading volumes on the exchanges were unchanged or below those achieved in the first half of 2000. Trading activity in Europe in particular decreased noticeably, partly due to the flight of retail investors. Revenues from options trading were especially under pressure in the second quarter, as a result of a sharp decline in market volatilities. On the NYSE, the first half dollar value of trading in the stocks for which Van der Moolen acts as specialist declined by some 18% with respect to the first half of 2000.

F.M.J. (Fred) Bottcher, Van der Moolen's CEO, commented, "The decline in U.S. revenues resulted from decreased opportunities to trade. When prices for stocks drop sharply in an environment of roughly unchanged percentage volatility, our room for revenue capture is reduced. The loss of the Time Warner assignment, as a result of its merger with AOL, also had an effect. The introduction of decimal quotation on the NYSE in January, 2001, played no significant part in the decrease in our NYSE revenues."

First half 2001 total revenues declined 21% relative to the same period of 2000, to Euro 182 million. The organic decline was 28%, while acquisitions and currency effects partially offset this, by 4% and 3% respectively. Specialist activities in the Netherlands saw revenues fall 45% and market making in the Netherlands by 33%. Specialist activities in equities and derivatives in the US saw an 11% decrease in revenues in the first half of 2001. Van der Moolen Specialists USA's total revenues declined by 7%. Revenues from market making outside the Netherlands fell by 43%. Van der Moolen Bonds started business at the end of May and contributed only marginally.

Fixed personnel expenses increased as a result of the integration of Fagenson from June 1, 2000, the creation of Van der Moolen Bonds on February 1, 2001 and as a result of currency effects. Increased information and communications costs resulted from increased costs of electronic infrastructure and associated software. Lower bonus accruals offset these influences, and total operating costs decreased on balance by 13%. Van der Moolen's operating margin declined from 58% for the full year 2000 to 54% for the first half of 2001.

Net income from ordinary activities declined 24% in the first half of 2001 to Euro 54 million.