NYSE Profit Rises Sharply

NYSE Group(NYX) said second-quarter earnings more than tripled from a year ago, beating analyst estimates, as profits and sales were helped by the merger with Archipelago.

The New York Stock Exchange operator earned $61.2 million, or 39 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $13 million, or 11 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue was $659.5 million, up from $404.8 a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings of 35 cents a share on revenue of $621.3 million in the latest quarter.

In the first quarter of 2006, NYSE earned $30.3 million, or 24 cents a share, on revenue of $454.9.

"NYSE Group's second quarter performance was strong, as the balance between revenue growth and cost management demonstrates," the company said in a release. "We remain focused on growing and delivering on our core business priorities."

The results were the first full quarter to include the merger of electronic trading platform Archipelago, which the company completed in March this year. During the quarter, the company took a $9.7 million charge related to the merger and to the company's secondary offering, which it completed during the quarter.

"Additionally, we continue to make significant progress on the NYSE-Archipelago merger integration initiative and with the approaching introduction of a number of new products and services in the coming months, NYSE Group is well positioned for future growth and substantial value creation for our shareholders," the company said.

One of the only comparable metrics for the quarter was the trading of NYSE-listed stocks. The NYSE's share of stocks listed on its exchange declined to 76.3% of total trading, versus 76.7% last quarter and 81.8% in the same quarter last year. Conversely, the company said that its share of trading Nasdaq-listed securities rose to 25.2% in the quarter, versus 23% last quarter and 23.1% in the same quarter last year.