By Lisa Beilfuss
CME Group Inc., the world's largest futures-market operator,
said its first-quarter profit rose 24%, help by higher trading
volumes.
The company's top- and bottom-line results beat Wall Street
expectations.
"We delivered strong revenue growth in the first quarter driven
primarily by interest rate, energy and foreign exchange products,
with double-digit average daily volume growth coming from Europe
and North America," said Chairman and Terry Duffy.
CME said earlier this month that its volume averaged 15 million
contracts a day during the first quarter, up 10% from a year
earlier and marking the second-highest quarter in the company's
history. Energy volume jumped 26% and interest rate volume rose
13%, offsetting a 4.1% decline in equity trading volume.
Earlier this year, CME said it would shut most of its futures
trading pits in Chicago and New York as the prominence of
electronic trading has shrunk liquidity on traditional floor
markets.
Profit rose to $330.4 million, or 98 cents a share, from $266.8
million, or 79 cents, a year earlier.
Revenue increased 8.4% to $842.7 million. Clearing and
transaction fees, which account for about 85% of the company's top
line, climbed 8.6% to $708.2 million.
Analyst were looking for 95 cents in per-share profit on $838.1
million in revenue.
The company's stronger-than-expected results contrast with
fellow exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., which last week
said its profit dropped in the first quarter, hurt by
restructuring-related expenses and changes in foreign-exchange
rates.
CME shares, up 27% over the past 12 months, were inactive in
premarket trading.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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