By Jacob Bunge and Inti Landauro
PARIS--NYSE Euronext (NYX) said its fourth-quarter net profit
fell 75% to $28 million from $110 million in the same period a year
ago because of a decline in the number of transactions and because
of the negative impact of merger and acquisition costs associated
with asset sales.
Excluding the impact of exceptional charges related to the
write-off of clearing investments in connection with the decision
to move to ICE Clear, the unwind of BlueNext and other
merger-related expenses, NYSE Euronext's net income in the fourth
quarter was $105 million.
NYSE Euronext said it managed to cut $115 million in costs last
year as part of the two-year campaign to trim $250 million in
costs, responding to a three-year slide in stock-trading activity
and a low interest rate climate in Europe that has crimped trading
fees from NYSE's London-based futures market.
Trading on NYSE Euronext's Liffe futures platform fell 15% in
the fourth quarter from the prior year to an average 2.3 million
contracts changing hands per day. Stock trades executed on NYSE's
U.S. and European exchanges fell by one-fourth from 2011 levels,
with U.S. options volume down 5%.
The transatlantic exchange group, which operates markets in
Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, New York and Paris, in December agreed
to a $8.2 billion takeover proposal from IntercontinentalExchange
Inc. (ICE), the Atlanta-based commodity market operator that in
2011 joined with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) to launch an
unsuccessful effort to wrest NYSE from its agreed deal with
Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE, DBOEF).
The European Union a year ago blocked the NYSE-Deutsche Boerse
combination, citing a potential monopoly over financial futures
traded in the region.
Shares of NYSE settled 0.2% higher Monday at $34.87.
Write to Inti Landauro, Marion Issard and Jacob Bunge at
inti.landauro@dowjones.com
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