E*TRADE (ETFC) reported Thursday that first-quarter revenue was a shade under $420 million, which didn't meet the average analyst projection of $439 million.
It was also considerably lower than the $489 million the company reported in the same period the previous year. Net profit broadly met the market's expectations at $35 million ($0.12 per diluted share), but like the top line, it declined on a year-over-year basis, by 44% from Q1 2012's figure of $63 million ($0.22).
In terms of operating metrics, E*TRADE's Q1 daily average revenue trades -- a key figure in the industry -- slid 5% on an annual basis to hit 149,000. Net new brokerage accounts totaled 30,000, which was down from 46,000 in the same quarter last year. As of the end of March, the company had roughly 4.5 million customer accounts in total.
