Exchange Revenue Figures Rise, Fall; Data Revenues Continue Steady Increase

In Europe, revenue from market data and indexes at Euronext spiked by 12.3 percent compared to the same quarter in 2014, rising from €21.9 million ($24.7 million) to €24.6 million ($27.7 million), with revenues benefiting from a price increase for Level 2 data that came into effect on Jan. 1. Overall, the exchange reported revenues of €130 million, and net profit of €48 million for Q1 2015, up from €7.6 million in Q1 2014.

Spanish stock exchange Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) reported its best quarterly results for seven years, with Q1 revenues rising 8.2 percent year-on-year to €93 million ($104.9 million) and net profit of €47 million ($53 million), an increase of 11.5 percent over the same period last year. BME cites that this increase is underpinned by strong performance from the equity, settlement and registration and IT and consulting divisions, as well as from its market data and information segment, where revenues rose 26 percent in Q1 to €9.4 million ($10.6 million), and EBITDA rose 28 percent to €8.6 million ($9.7 million). Officials say consumption of BME data is at record levels, with total clients connected up 5.9 percent and numbers of direct connections up 21.2 percent year-on-year.

The London Stock Exchange's Q1 results received a massive boost from Russell Investments. Information services, which contributed to a 42 percent rise to £130.8 million ($199.1 million)-compared to a 5 percent increase on an organic basis, excluding the acquisition-up from £92 million ($140 million) in Q1 2014. Officials also noted a 12 percent revenue increase in revenues from its FTSE index business to £51.2 million ($77.9 million), and a 7 percent increase in "other information services" to £24.5 million ($37.3 million)--though revenue from real-time data fell by 9 percent to £21.3 million ($32.4 million). The exchange's Q1 total revenue shot up by 86 percent to £581 million ($884.3 million), up from £311.8 million ($474.6 million) last year.

Deutsche Börse's overall revenue surged 16 percent in Q1 from €516.7 million ($582.6 million) to €600.1 million ($676.7 million). Officials cited positive developments in custody and administration of securities, as well as in its Market Data + Services business-where revenues rose from €93.6 million ($105.5 million) in Q1 2014 to €111.8 million ($126.1 million) this year-and higher equity market volatility.

In the US, CME Group continued the growth trend of its European counterparts, reporting "solid" revenue growth in Q1 in core futures products, swaps clearing and market data, with market data revenue up 10 percent from $89.4 million for Q1 2014, to $98 million in Q1 2015, driven primarily by a higher proportion of total volume coming from commodities products, which have higher average fees.

Nasdaq OMX posted less positive results, with first quarter revenues down 4 percent from the same period last year to $507 million, resulting from a $29 million negative impact from foreign exchange rates. Information services revenues--which make up 25 percent of Nasdaq OMX's total revenues--were $125 million for Q1, up $2 million (or 1.6 percent) from Q1 2014. Data products revenues were $100 million in the first quarter of 2015, unchanged year-on-year, as increased revenue from Nasdaq Basic and the inclusion of revenue associated with the Dorsey Wright acquisition were offset by lower audit collections, and the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates.

Meanwhile, CBOE Holdings, the parent of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, saw total operating revenues fall 10 percent year-on-year to $142.8 million. This decline was due to lower transaction fees of $98.7 million, access fees of $13.7 million, and regulatory fees of $8.4 million. However, these were partially offset by an 11.1 percent rise in market data fees to $8 million, as well as $9.7 million in exchange services and other fees, and other revenues of $4.3 million.