Saxo Bank, the Danish firm which provides services to investors including the wealthy, sees scope for further expansion in its online trading business, its chief executive Kim Fournais was quoted by Dow Jones as saying in an interview.

"We think we have a scalable business model and we work hard on expanding our geographical footprint and the products and services on our platform," Fournais said. He said the bank's small presence in some markets meant it has strong growth potential.

Saxo Bank runs online investment services for private individuals and provides trading platforms to bigger banks such as Barclays and Citigroup through revenue sharing agreements.

"The retail foreign exchange market is likely to maintain its growth trajectory for the next 10 to 15 years, and Saxo Bank is probably one of the biggest global foreign exchange players within the private individual segment," Fournais said. He added that the bank wants to build its position in other markets too such as in equities, futures or online wealth management.

In March, Saxo Bank reported a record net profit for 2010 of DKK644 million (around $123 million), up from DKK201 million in 2009. Operating income reached DKK3.3 billion last year, up from DKK2.2 billion in 2009, a 50 per cent rise that was driven by larger client numbers, increased deposits and high trading activity in the first half of the year.

Total assets increased during the year – from DKK16.0 billion in 2009 to DKK23.9 billion in 2010. The increase was due to a growth in client’s cash deposits as well as acquisitions by Saxo Bank such as the acquisition of E*Trades Nordic activities and Broerup Sparekasse.