On Thursday, Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) reported a higher fourth-quarter profit with revenue growth coming from corporate solutions, U.S. options, and U.S. proprietary data products businesses while equity trading volumes fell.
Net income attributable was $85 million (50 cents a share) up from the previous year’s $82 million (45 cents a share).
Excluding costs, Nasdaq OMX ?earned 64 cents a share, exceeding analysts’ estimates of 61 cents a share. This represented a?tie for company’s second highest quarterly performance in its history.
Bob Greifeld, CEO, NASDAQ OMX said in the earnings press release, “NASDAQ OMX ended 2012 with a strong finish to the year, driven by a significant pick-up in corporate activity coupled with solid performance in our U.S. options, U.S. proprietary data products and global index businesses. While the volume environment remained weak in the fourth quarter, we continued to expand our diversified, global portfolio of businesses, increasing our stream of recurring revenues, generating strong cash flows and delivering attractive returns for our shareholders.”
He added, “Looking to 2013, we are encouraged to see positive, multi week inflows from retail investors into U.S. equity mutual funds and some signs of improvement in the volume environment. As we move through the year, we will remain focused on strengthening our franchise by ensuring we have the talent, structure and business portfolio to deliver for our clients and shareholders. I believe we are creating the foundation for growth and outperformance regardless of the economic, business or volume cycles.”
In response to the quarterly results, Chris Ross, an analyst at JMP Securities wrote in a research note via Bloomberg on Thursday, “Both higher revenue and lower expenses combined to drive the beat? of analysts? forecasts. We expect shares to outperform today.?
Ross currently has a “Market Outperform” rating on Nasdaq.
The company’s stock, which rose 2 percent last year, jumped to 21-month high in Wednesday’s trading. On Thursday, the stock is currently trading at $27.54, down 1.54%.
In other exchange news, CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME)?declared a first-quarter dividend of $0.45 per share. This is payable on March 25, 2013 to shareholders of record March 8, 2013.