8.2.2011
By Simon Miller
NYSE Euronext’s fourth-quarter net profits dropped 20% compare with a year earlier, as a strengthening dollar and weak trading volumes in Europe and US hit.
The exchange operator’s net profit was $120m (£74.43m) compared to $141m in the same period in 2009 and earnings per share fell 21% to $0.46.
Q4 revenues fell 4% to $613m due a decline in European derivatives and U.S. cash average daily trading volumes, as well as a $19 million hit from foreign currency fluctuations which were partially offset by higher technology services revenue.
Derivatives net revenue decreased 6% to $188m compared to Q4 2009 and was primarily driven by a $7m negative impact from currency fluctuations and an 8% decline in European derivatives,
For the full-year 2010, derivatives achieved net revenue of $826m – an increase $103m - and represented 33% of NYSE Euronext's total net revenue, up from 29% in 2009.
The derivatives segment finished 2010 with record trading volumes. Global derivatives average daily volumes (ADV) in 2010 was 8.4m contracts, an increase of 24% compared to 2009 and consisted of ADV of 4.7m contracts for total notional of 1.2trn executed over NYSE Liffe and ADV of 3.7m contracts executed over NYSE Euronext's US equity options exchanges.
NYSE Euronext chief financial officer Michael S. Geltzeiler commented: "Despite a challenging trading volume environment in the second half of 2010, we recorded record volumes in our derivatives business for full-year 2010, we stabilized our core cash markets, our listings business showed renewed strength, our technology business is primed for growth in 2011 and we continued to focus on reducing our fixed expense base."
Other stories you may find of interest:
Holding out for a debt restructure
Greece stands before a default abyss but, as Simon Miller discovers, before it rushes to restructure, there are litigating risks from international trade treaties to consider
EU aims at HFT in Mifid 2 proposals
The European Union is aiming to crackdown on high frequency traders through the proposed Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2 (Mifid2). .
