North American multinational derivatives marketplace CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) has just released a set of robust financial results for the first quarter of 2015, with both profits and revenues staging a pronounced year-on-year rise.
- Net income attributable to CME Group reached $330.4 million in the quarter to the end of March 2015, up by 24% from $266.8 million recorded in the same quarter in 2014.
- Operating income staged a rise of 11.6% and amounted to $507.3 million in the first quarter of 2015.
- Total revenues equalled $842.7 million in the first three months of 2015, staging a rise of 8.4% against the same quarter in 2014.
- GAAP and adjusted diluted earnings per share totaled $0.981.
- CME Group boasted first-quarter 2015 average daily volume of 15 million contracts, 10% higher than in the first-quarter 2014. This is the second-highest quarterly volume.
- As of March 31, 2015, the company had $1.8 billion of cash and marketable securities and $2.9 billion of long-term debt.
“We delivered strong revenue growth in the first quarter driven primarily by interest rate, energy and foreign exchange products, with double-digit average daily volume growth coming from Europe and North America and 22 percent growth from Asia,” said CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy. “Total average daily volume was 15 million contracts, up 10 percent, which was the second highest quarter in our history. We recorded solid revenue growth in our core futures products, swaps clearing and market data. This clearly demonstrates the value of the unparalleled diversity of our product set.”
CME Group’s chief executive Phupinder Gill also commented on the strong results. “In addition to globalization, we made progress with our swaps clearing and options business,” he said. “Interest rate swaps clearing revenue grew 57 percent, and we are seeing additional signs that our 500+ swaps clients are increasing their usage of our core futures products. Options volume reached a record 2.8 million contracts per day during the quarter. Also, the combination of top-line growth and our internal efficiency and productivity enhancements led to significant operating margin expansion and earnings growth during the first quarter.”
To view the official press release, click here.