Diversification, Rising Subscriber Revenues Boost Exchange Results

The London Stock Exchange Group’s information services division saw revenues rise by 10 percent from £128.5 million ($186.9 million) in Q1 2015 to £141.5 million ($205.8 million) this year, as a result of a 13 percent in revenue from its FTSE Russell indexes business, which brought in £96.4 million ($140.2 million), as well as a 7 percent rise in real-time data revenues and a 1 percent rise in revenue from other information services. Overall, the LSE’s revenues increased 9 percent to £387.6 million ($563.8 million) for Q1.

The LSE’s potential merger partner Deutsche Börse’s net revenue grew by 8 percent in Q1 to €648.8 million ($736.2 million), up from €600.1 million ($680.6 million) for Q1 last year. However, revenues for the exchange’s Market Data + Services segment declined by 5 percent year-over-year to €104 million ($119 million). While revenues in the index business grew, fewer data audits pulled profits down for the German exchange.  

Spanish exchange Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) reported net profit of €42.9 million ($48.7 million) for Q1, down 8.9 percent compared to the same period last year, but up by 4.6 percent from €41 million ($46.9 million) in Q4. BME’s information division, which accounts for more than 13 percent of the exchange’s revenues, rose by 17.9 percent year-on-year to €11 million ($12.5 million), driven by increases in the number of connections and subscriptions to information from primary sources. The full integration of data vendor Infobolsa into the business unit, which BME fully acquired from Deutsche Börse in February, brought in €823,000 ($935,000).

In the US, Nasdaq posted net revenues of $534 million for Q1, up 5 percent compared to the same period last year. Nasdaq’s information services division, which now delivers 25 percent of the exchange’s total net revenues, brought in $133 million for the quarter—$105 million from data products, and $28 million from index licensing and services—up $8 million year-on-year. The exchange attributes the increase to revenues associated with the acquisitions of Chi-X Canada and Dorsey Wright and Associates, as well as increased revenues from index and proprietary data products. 

CME Group reported a “record” first quarter, with an 11 percent revenue rise to $934 million. Revenues for market data and information totaled $102.4 million, up from $98 million in Q1 2015, though CME did not provide a detailed breakdown of revenue sources within that figure. 

CME’s neighbor, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), posted an even bigger percentage revenue increase for Q1, with total operating revenue rising 14 percent to $162.3 million. In a statement, CBOE chief executive Edward Tilly attributed the revenue rise to the strong performance of the exchange’s S&P 500 Index, Russell 2000 Index and CBOE Volatility Index products. Revenue from market data fees was $8 million, equal to Q1 last year.

Further afield, the Japan Exchange Group saw its information services revenue increase 8.6 percent year-on-year to ¥17,706 million ($163.4 million), which JPX attributes to increases in market information fees and revenues from its index business. Overall, the exchange reported revenues of ¥114.8 billion ($1.06 million), up 8.1 percent over the same period last year.