Introduction

This FAQ has been designed to answer the questions most frequently asked by our shareholders and will be regularly expanded. It aims to provide clear, consistent and rapid access to information, so that everyone can find the answers they need in full transparency.
 

We hope you find it helpful, and if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the Contact form or at the following address: actionnaires@abc-arbitrage.com.
 

If you’d like to have more information, we suggest you consult the following sites:

  • The Autorité des Marchés financiers (AMF), the French regulatory body that scrutinizes financial markets and related activities.

  • the French stock market is managed by Euronext Paris, which establishes market rules, under the scrutiny of the AMF. Euronext decides on whether a company can be listed, ensures the public dissemination of information on transactions and negotiations, posts stock prices, registers transactions and negotiations between its members, offers market services to issuers to announce the listing of their securities and to enable them to carry out financial operations.

 
 

Annual Results 2025
Why is the 2025 result considered solid even though net income is lower than in 2024?

Net income, Group share, amounted to €25.1 million in 2025, compared with €26.8 million in 2024. This apparent decrease should be read with caution, as the 2024 financial year included exceptional items. Excluding these items, Net earnings per share increased by nearly 19%, while Current operating income rose by more than 16%. The Group also posted a 2025 ROE of 14.8%, close to 15%, confirming a high level of profitability in a market environment that was more favorable than in 2024 but still mixed. (See FY2025 results press release)

 
 

What does the “double turbo” effect observed in 2025 mean?

The expression “double turbo” refers to the combined effect of two drivers: on the one hand, a volatility environment that was more favorable to the Group’s strategies; and on the other hand, the structural improvements implemented during previous strategic plans. As a concrete example illustrating this effect, in the first half of 2025 and compared with the first half of 2024, this combination resulted in a strong acceleration: Current operating income increased by nearly 60%, Net income for the first half reached €17.7 million, representing a 99% increase over the period, and annualized ROE stood at 20.3%. (See HY2025 results press release).

 
 

Can the first half of 2025 be compared with the first half of 2020?

The comparison must remain cautious, as the market environments were very different. The first half of 2020 was marked by the Covid shock and an exceptional level of volatility; at that time, the Group generated Current operating income of €44.8 million and Net income of €25.7 million as of June 30, 2020. In the first half of 2025, Current operating income reached €36.5 million and Net income €17.7 million, in a context where volatility was admittedly high in March-April, but less sustained than during the Covid shock. This comparison shows that the progress achieved by the Group now enables it to deliver a high level of performance in less extreme volatility conditions than in 2020. (See HY2025 results press release)

 
 

How should internal and external AUM be understood?

AUM, or assets under management, comprise two components: third-party capital, referred to in presentations as External Third Party AUM or AUM ETP, and the Group’s internal capital allocated to strategies. Internal AUM should not be confused with the Group’s IFRS accounting shareholders’ equity. They correspond to an operational measure used to monitor the capital effectively managed or allocated to strategies, based on a methodology designed to harmonize assets from an economic and management fee perspective.

 
 

Why did assets under management decrease in 2024 and 2025?

The decrease in assets under management is mainly explained by the historical nature of the products, which were highly focused on capital protection and exposure to volatility. During periods of low or uneven volatility, these products may, rightly or wrongly, be less sought after by certain investors. Since 2024, the ABCA Opportunities fund has been adapted to maintain an “all weather” approach while strengthening diversification. Despite 2025 performances above 10% for ABCA Opportunities and ABCA Reversion, this improvement has not yet been sufficient to establish a new fundraising dynamic. ETP AUM decreased from €81 million as of December 31, 2024 to €52 million as of December 31, 2025, while total AUM amounted to €245 million as of December 31, 2025.

 
 

Why do you believe the fundraising trend could improve?

The partial return of volatility in 2025 and then in early 2026, the recent performance of the funds (over the first five months of 2026, ABCA Opportunities posted a net performance of +14.7% and ABCA Reversion +9.3%), as well as the adaptations made to ABCA Opportunities, are favorable factors. The Group believes that these factors may help gradually establish a fundraising dynamic. However, this outlook remains dependent on the pace of clients’ investment decisions and on current and future due diligence processes.

 
 

How is the dividend calculated through the financial year 2025?

The Springboard 2025 distribution policy was based on the following formula: the maximum between €0.30 per share and 80% of EPS. For 2025, EPS amounted to €0.42; 80% of this amount represents approximately €0.34, corresponding to the total distribution planned for the 2025 financial year. The 2025 dividend therefore consists of three interim dividends of €0.10 and a balance of €0.04, representing a total of €0.34 per share.
 
N.B: the “maximum of” formula means that the minimum annual dividend is €0.30 as long as the percentage of EPS does not result in a higher amount. With an 80% formula, the breakeven threshold is an EPS of €0.375; above this level, 80% of EPS becomes higher than €0.30.

 
 

Business Plan – Momentum 2028
What are the overall objectives of Momentum 2028?

Momentum 2028 aims to transform the acceleration observed in 2025 and early 2026 into sustainable growth. The plan is based on three main pillars: strengthening strategy diversification, developing third-party assets under management, and gradually increasing the internal capital invested in the Group’s products, in line with the fundraising momentum of external assets under management. The objective is to increase the scale of ABC arbitrage’s businesses while maintaining attractive profitability, with an ambition of “all weather” ROE above 10%. (See March 2026 investor presentation on FY2025 results, slides 26 & 27)

 
 

What AUM targets are being pursued under Momentum 2028?

The communicated objective is to target more than €500 million of AUM ETP by the end of 2026. This amount includes opportunities currently undergoing investment and operational due diligence. In the interest of transparency as at the end of June 2026, and with no guarantee at this stage that a firm and definitive agreement will be reached, ongoing prospects for new assets under management significantly exceed €100 million. The plan also mentions a trajectory for developing third-party assets under management that could fit into a broader growth ambition towards $1 billion.

 
 

Can the potential impact of AUM ETP on revenue be quantified?

The Momentum 2028 plan is based on a very prudent assumption of average gross profitability of AUM ETP of approximately 2%, including management and performance fees. For illustrative purposes, an additional €100 million of AUM ETP would therefore represent approximately €2 million of potential annual gross revenue. Similarly, €500 million of AUM ETP would correspond, on this theoretical basis, to approximately €10 million of potential annual gross revenue.

 
 

Why use a 2% assumption when the funds target performances above 10%?

The assumption of a 2% profitability rate on assets under management from external clients is deliberately prudent and is based on the fact that management fees are around 1% of AUM, while performance fees are around 20% of the capital gain exceeding the minimum rate of return (hurdle rate, which is based on the reference rate in the chosen currency). Thus, the 1% contribution from performance fees, in addition to management fees, is based on the assumption that, using a EUR reference rate of around 3%, we have retained a gross performance for the funds offered by the Group slightly below 10%.
Accordingly, the assumption of a 2% profitability rate on external AUM under management is explained half by management fees and half by our prudent projections of the funds’ gross performance.

 
 

Should additional shareholders’ equity be valued directly in market capitalization?

The Group does not present the strengthening of shareholders’ equity as an element that should be mechanically valued in the share price or in market capitalization. The main objective is operational: to have more capital available to support the launch or development of strategies, invest in seed money and support future earnings growth. For the Group, it is also a matter of increasing the scale of all its business lines to keep pace with the evolution of its industry. The expected value creation therefore does not come from the simple increase in shareholders’ equity, but from its ability to generate additional revenue and, over time, higher EPS.

 
 

What level of additional revenue is expected from the additional shareholders’ equity?

The aim of the plan is to maintain, at a minimum, ROE above 10%, while increasing earnings in millions of euros and therefore EPS. The additional shareholders’ equity should make it possible to diversify strategies, strengthen the earnings recurrence and reach a larger scale in an industry that requires diversified and capitalized structures. If achieved, these ambitions should enable the Group to make progress in all market conditions.

 
 

What will be the dilutive effect of the Optional Dividend Payment in Shares?

The Optional Dividend Payment in Shares, or POD, allows a shareholder to receive their dividend in new shares rather than in cash, for all or part of the dividend. This option strengthens the Group’s shareholders’ equity but mechanically results in the creation of new shares.
 
For the interim dividend scheduled in December 2026 alone, the Momentum 2028 presentation mentions an estimate of approximately 1.5 million new shares, based on an interim dividend of €0.20, a historical subscription rate of 66% and the market price used in the presentation to the General Meeting of June 5, 2026. Compared with the 59,782,162 existing shares, this would represent dilution of approximately 2.4% after the creation of the shares.
 
N.B: the exact number of new shares will depend on the number of eligible shares, the subscription price retained, the actual subscription rate and the decisions of the Board of Directors.

 
 

What would happen if the POD were used several times?

The dilutive effect will depend on the amount distributed in shares, the subscription rate and the subscription price for each transaction. The simplified formula is as follows:

 

Number of new shares = amount of the relevant dividend × number of eligible shares × POD subscription rate / subscription price

 

The Group’s objective is for the increase in shareholders’ equity to finance strategies and products capable of generating an increase in EPS greater than the dilutive effect. The use of the POD should therefore be analyzed in parallel with the earnings growth trajectory.

 
 

Why may some historical shareholders sell shares while supporting the POD?

Historical shareholders have indicated their intention to support the Optional Dividend Payment in Shares mechanism. Some may nevertheless be led to sell part of their shares in order to finance their subscription to the dividend in shares, without significantly increasing their overall holding. The objective is to contribute to the strengthening of the Group’s shareholders’ equity while preserving the current balance of the shareholding structure. The Momentum 2028 presentation made in March 2026 explicitly mentions the support of reference shareholders for capital strengthening as well as expected disposals to finance payment of the dividend in shares.

 
 

What are the disclosure obligations in the event of crossing ownership thresholds in the share capital or voting rights?

ABC arbitrage’s articles of association provide for a disclosure to the Company whenever a shareholder, acting alone or in concert, crosses upward or downward the threshold of 1% of the share capital or voting rights, and each subsequent multiple of 1%. This disclosure must be made within 5 trading days following the threshold crossing.
These statutory thresholds are in addition to the legal disclosure thresholds applicable to listed companies, in particular those to be reported to the AMF. The legal thresholds include, among others, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, one-third, 50%, two-thirds, 90% and 95% of the share capital or voting rights.

 
 

Why does ABC arbitrage plan to increase its R&D investments?

Momentum 2028 provides for a gradual increase in investments, particularly in R&D, in order to develop new strategies, strengthen revenue diversification and improve the Group’s ability to perform in different market regimes. These investments are presented as conditional on results: they are intended to be undertaken progressively, depending on observed profitability and the achievement of operational objectives. The plan mentions a cumulative envelope of around €15 million to €25 million over three years, conditional on short- and medium-term results.

 
 

Under what conditions would R&D investments be continued?

The Group wishes to maintain profitability discipline. R&D investments should be continued if they support the growth of the businesses while maintaining attractive return on shareholders’ equity. The plan notably mentions an investment approach conditional on ROE above 10%. The Group has repeatedly emphasized the different timeframes involved in investments and in building a Business Activity Level over a period of several months. ABC arbitrage will therefore provide regular updates on this objective and the related decisions.

 
 

Does the Momentum 2028 plan provide an EBIT projection?

At this stage, the plan mainly communicates trajectory objectives: development of AUM ETP, strengthening of shareholders’ equity, target profitability of AUM ETP, and maintenance of ROE above 10%. Elements have also been provided regarding cumulative additional investments over the three years of the strategic plan. Although the Group has highlighted the progress achieved through the 2026 Business Activity Level, ABC arbitrage has not, for the time being, communicated EBIT projections for the next three years. However, the Group maintains its ambition to generate a cumulative €100 million in net income over the three years of the Momentum 2028 strategic plan.

 
 

Why is the dividend moving to a formula with a 66% payout ratio?

As part of Momentum 2028, the Group confirms an attractive distribution policy with a minimum annual dividend of €0.30, associated with a payout ratio of 66%. This evolution aims to preserve a significant dividend for shareholders while allowing the Group to retain greater shareholders’ equity resources to finance its growth through its seed money requirements on the development of new strategies.
 
N.B: with a formula of “maximum between €0.30 and 66% of EPS” and based on the number of shares currently in circulation, the breakeven threshold is an EPS of approximately €0.4545. Below this level, the €0.30 minimum is higher than 66% of EPS; above this level, 66% of EPS becomes higher than €0.30.