IntercontinentalExchange Inc.'s profit vaulted 66 percent in the first quarter as trading volume accelerated and the futures exchange operator added business from the New York Board of Trade, the company said Friday.
ICE earned $92.3 million, or $1.29 per share, in the first quarter, compared with $55.6 million, or 80 cents per share, in the first quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast profit of $1.28 per share.
Revenue, which the company derives from charging fees for hosting trades and providing market data, surged 64 percent to $207.2 million from $126.6 million.
Analysts expected revenue of $205 million.
ICE operates an electronic trading platform enabling brokers to trade contracts tied to the value of commodities, such as energy. The company bought the New York Board of Trade and Winnipeg Commodity Exchange last year, renaming them ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Futures Canada.
Clients traded more than 1 million contracts a day on average on ICE's platform, an increase of 39 percent.
Trading in Europe, which is where the bulk of ICE's trading takes place, accelerated 16 percent to 616,150 contracts a day. Trading at ICE Futures U.S. leaped 79 percent to 370,372 contracts a day. When ICE bought the New York Board of Trade, it was exclusively an in-person, open-outcry exchange. The exchange has benefited from listing its contracts on ICE's electronic platform.
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