NYX Nyse Euronext

Exchange operator NYSE Euronext (NYX) on Thursday posted a solid rise in first-quarter net profit and said its integration planning for its agreed tie-up with Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) is on track.

The company also declared a cash dividend of $0.30 a share for the second quarter, matching the dividend announced for the first quarter.

"It's a terrific start to the year by any measure," Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said at an annual meeting of NYSE Euronext shareholders in New York on Thursday.

Niederauer, who has been pitching the tie-up with Deutsche Boerse to shareholders in the past month following an unsolicited approach for NYSE Euronext by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), said the deal would be the "accelerator" of the Big Board parent's growth.

He told shareholders that work integrating the two companies, which will eventually produce a single trading platform across all asset classes, has not distracted NYSE Euronext from day-to-day operations.

Net profit attributable to shareholders came to $155 million, up about 19% from $130 million a year earlier.

The company said that results for the first quarter of 2011 and 2010 included $21 million and $13 million, respectively, from pretax merger expenses and exit costs. For the most-recent quarter, those costs included $15 million related to the proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse.

Excluding those costs, NYSE Euronext's first-quarter net profit was $177 million, up 26% from $140 million a year earlier, and earnings per share rose to $0.68 from $0.54 previously. Net revenue rose 5% to $679 million due to a better performance from its three key business segments--cash trading and listings, derivatives and information services.

Niederauer forecast $500 million in 2011 revenues for NYSE Euronext's technology division, and said that a debut last month of new U.S. interest-rate futures contracts--targeting a core business of CME Group Inc. (CME)--was the "most successful" debut yet of such a challenge.

The diversification efforts come as U.S. cash equities volumes look to continue at their current depressed levels, Niederauer said, pointing to the upcoming reverse split of Citigroup Inc. (C) shares as another damper on the market. On Tuesday, Niederauer told Dow Jones Newswires that the approach from Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange appears intended to spoil NYSE Euronext's agreed merger with Deutsche Boerse.

"They win if we get a 'no' vote on July 7," said Niederauer, referring to the planned shareholder vote on the combination with Deutsche Boerse.

Niederauer this week canvassed NYSE Euronext shareholders ahead of the company's annual meeting later Thursday, promoting the Deutsche Boerse deal and addressing its perceived "value gap" with the premium offered by ICE and Nasdaq OMX.

The Deutsche Boerse combination values NYSE Euronext at roughly $10 billion, while Nasdaq and ICE's proposal puts the Big Board's value at about $11 billion. NYSE Euronext shares closed 0.25% higher on Wednesday in New York at $39.39.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

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