A TV cameraman shoots video through the windows of the Nasdaq offices in Times Square on June 24, 2016 in New York. US stocks tumbled early Friday, with banking equities suffering especially deep losses, joining an international rout after Britain's surprise vote to exit the European Union. The Dow sank more than 500 points shortly after the markets opened at 1330 GMT, but then quickly recovered some of the losses. The selloffs in the US were smaller than in many overseas markets. / AFP PHOTO / DON EMMERT
NEW YORK: Trans-Atlantic exchange operator Nasdaq Inc posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as recent acquisitions helped boost its revenue, sending its shares to a record high.
Excluding items, the company earned 91 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 88 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose about 8% to US$559mil (RM2.28bil) to best the US$548mil (RM2.24bil) estimate.
“It was a very strong quarter for us across a wide range of businesses,” said Nasdaq chief executive officer Robert Greifeld.
“If I look forward, we are more competitive than we’ve been, we are delivering for our customers and we feel very good about it.”
The stock touched a record high of US$64.91 (RM264.97) and was last up 1.5% at US$64.89 (RM264.95). For the year, it is up nearly 20%.
Net income attributable to Nasdaq on a non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) basis fell to US$70mil (RM285.8mil), or 42 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30, from US$133mil (RM543.1mil), or 77 cents per share, a year earlier.
The company said that its operating expenses rose about 28% to US$385mil (RM1.57bil) in the second quarter.
Nasdaq bought Canadian trading venue Chi-X Canada and Canadian news distribution company Marketwired in February and business communication portal operator Boardvantage in May.
A deal to acquire International Securities Exchange (ISE), an operator of three electronic options exchanges, was completed on June 30.
Nasdaq, which unveiled a cost-cutting plan last year, said it had taken charges for rebranding from “The NASDAQ OMX Group Inc” to “Nasdaq Inc”, and costs linked to employee severance, vacating facilities and asset impairment.
Nasdaq’s information services revenue, which includes revenue from market data and index licensing and services, increased 4.7% to US$134mil. - Reuters
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