NYSE Euronext Profit Soars on Volume

Big Board operator NYSE Euronext(NYX) on Tuesday reported soaring trading volumes enabled it to easily beat analysts' expectations.

Excluding merger expenses and exit costs, the exchange reported a profit of $241 million, or 91 cents per diluted share, a 53% increase over the net income of $158 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, NYSE and Euronext earned as separate companies prior to their merger in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had forecast 83 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Trading volumes pushed the exchange to quarterly records with 103 million transactions and 191 billion shares traded in the U.S. Group markets also set new trading records, including the second and sixth most active days. NYSE Arca Options experienced volume growth of 70% during the first quarter of 2008, vs. the previous year's quarter.

"We are very pleased with the growth in our transaction-related revenues, which underscores our leadership position in an increasingly competitive environment," CEO Duncan Niederauer said in a company statement.

NYSE Arca Options' share of trading in equity option contracts increased 1.8 percentage points to 14.5% during the first quarter, compared to the same period a year ago. The options business has become very competitive with many electronic communication networks like Instinet claiming market share.

NYSE also scored a win on the listings front, snagging the big prize of Visa(V), which began trading on March 19. It was the largest initial public offering in U.S. history and the third largest IPO worldwide. "Our brand name is the winner," Niederauer said on a conference call. "But, it is competitive so we plan to offer more services to our listing customers."