E*trade Au. ++++Announces Record Year++++++ - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

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HOMEX - Sydney
-------------------------
Announces Record Year

E*TRADE Australia (ASX Code: ETR), Australia`s best known online
broker currently handling more than a quarter of ASX online trades,
reported record net revenues and growth in the financial year to 30
June 2000. Driving the performance was the near trebling of customer
accounts, the doubling of customer assets and achieving trading
volumes five times higher than the previous 12 months.

HIGHLIGHTS (Unaudited)

* Customer accounts now exceed 55,000 - up 187% since June 1999
* $1.55 billion in total cash and equities held in customer accounts,
up 95%
* Trading volume up 500% on last year
* Gross revenue will exceed $20 million for the full year, up 85% on
December half
* ANZ/E*TRADE and E*TRADE Pro services launched
* Michael Deleray appointed Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer, Kerry Roxburgh said, "We exceeded all our
expectations in a year that saw us establish important new
milestones, notably passing the 50,000 accounts target and $1.5
billion in customer assets".

"We placed over one million orders last year and we have executed
about $4.75 billion in trades on behalf of our customers. This year
our trading volume has increased five fold."

E*TRADE Australia was particularly pleased with the quarter results
given the global drop in retail and institutional trading volumes in
the June 2000 quarter.

Commenting on the impact of the challenging final quarter, Mr
Roxburgh said, "Trading volumes on the ASX declined from more than
1.9 million trades in March 2000 to an average of under 1.2 million
trades per month for the quarter ended June.

Additionally, increased competition in the market forced price cuts.
Nevertheless, E*TRADE Australia is pleased to announce a record year
achieving gross revenue in excess of $20 million."

Despite the challenges posed by lower trading volumes during Q4,
E*TRADE Australia is expecting to achieve operation breakeven in
FY2001. The second half operating result is unlikely to record a
significant improvement upon the results achieved last December.

Commenting on the ANZ/E*TRADE alliance, Mr Roxburgh added, "The
alliance with 10% shareholder, ANZ bank, gained momentum during the
year. It has driven innovation and business growth and E*TRADE
Australia expects the alliance to expand the share of wallet
customers have with us and share of mind in the marketplace." It has
resulted in another first, with the recent launch of "online
real-time" banking, that is available to ANZ/E*TRADE customers.

In the 3 months to 30 June, ANZ/E*TRADE customers accounted for about
16% of all trades executed by E*TRADE Australia. Under the terms of
the ANZ alliance approved by Shareholders in August 1999, if
co-branded customers continue to execute in excess of 10% of all
trades in the six-months to 30 September 2000, ANZ will earn
additional shares in the company. They can do this every six months
thereafter for a further two years. In the period ending 30 September
2002, ANZ are able to earn up to 40% equity in E*TRADE Australia.

This week sees the end of Kerry Roxburgh`s two-year contract. He is
stepping down from his position as CEO and succeeding him will be
Michael Deleray. Prior to his arrival in January this year, Mr
Deleray was with E*TRADE Group US for three and half years. He was
responsible for the successful rollout of several international
E*TRADE operations. Mr Deleray brings with him a wealth of online and
financial services experience and will take up the role of Chief
Executive Officer effective immediately.

Incoming CEO Michael Deleray said, "In the new fiscal year I expect
our growth momentum to continue. We will diversify our revenue
sources by bringing exciting new functionality online and by
expanding our product range."

"Our innovative approach to offering the most reliable and fastest-
to-market online system available will continue to drive operational
excellence. As an example, last November we launched the E*TRADE Pro
service, which is designed for active investors and advisors. It is
superb. It has proven its value and we will continue to enhance it.
We are also developing multiple access channels for the wider
customer base to provide additional services such as alerts, faster
site speed, intra-day charts and dynamic prices," said Mr Deleray.

"E*TRADE Pro remains unmatched by other web-based brokers and it
represents a powerful tool provided free of charge to our most valued
customers. It is an important contributer to our rapidly growing
private clients advisor and financial planner business," Mr Deleray
added.

Chairman, E*TRADE Australia, Malcolm Spry said, "Achieving the record
results demonstrates we have the right fundamentals to deliver
bottom-line value whilst building the leading brand franchise."

"I thank our partners, ANZ and Computershare and also Kerry and his
team for their contributions. Kerry will continue as an Executive
Director on a special assignment. It is also my pleasure to welcome
Michael Deleray as CEO and I am confident that we will hold our
position as the leading online brand in the industry."

+++++Strong buy+++++++

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++++ 11% in AU +++
2,40 AU$

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E*Trade`s numbers add up
LOU CARUANA



THREE times as many customers with twice as much to spend lifted online broker E*Trade to record annual net revenue of $20 million in the year to June.

The Sydney-based group handled more than a quarter of ASX online trades in the period, outgoing chief executive Kerry Roxburgh said yesterday.
"We exceeded all our expectations in a year that saw us establish important new milestones, notably passing the 50,000 accounts target and $1.5 billion in customer assets," Mr Roxburgh said. "We placed over one million orders last year and we have executed about $4.75 billion in trades on behalf of our customers. This year our trading volume has increased five fold."

Mr Roxburgh was replaced yesterday by chief operating officer Mike Deleray.

Prior to Mr Deleray`s arrival in January, he was with E*Trade Group US for 3 1/2 years and responsible for the rollout of international E*Trade operations.

"In the new fiscal year I expect our growth momentum to continue," Mr Deleray said. "We will diversify our revenue sources by bringing exciting new functionality online and by expanding our product range."

Although E*Trade Australia posted gross revenue in excess of $20 million during the financial year, increased competition in the market forced price cuts. E*Trade Australia is expecting to achieve operation break even in FY2001.

Mr Roxburgh said the alliance with 10 per cent shareholder, ANZ bank, gained momentum during the year. "It has driven innovation and business growth and E*Trade Australia expects the alliance to expand the `share-of-wallet` customers have with us and `share-of-mind` in the marketplace," he said.

"It has resulted in another first, with the recent launch of `online-real-time` banking, available to ANZ/E*Trade customers. In the three months to 30 June, ANZ/E*Trade customers accounted for about 16 per cent of all trades executed by E*Trade Australia."