CME Group Inc. Reports Solid Second Quarter 2009 Financial Results

by CME Group 23 Jul 11:13

CHICAGO, July 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) today reported that second-quarter GAAP total revenues increased 15 percent to $648 million, and GAAP operating income increased 16 percent to $399 million. For the second quarter, net income on a GAAP basis was $222 million and diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis were $3.33. The 2009 GAAP results reflect the operations of Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Board of Trade of the City of Chicago (CBOT), and New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), and include costs of $2.6 million for merger-related items. The 2008 GAAP results reflect the operations of CME and CBOT only.

Second-quarter pro forma non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $3.37, down 14 percent compared with the prior year period. All pro forma results reflect the operations of both CME Group and NYMEX as if they were combined for all periods reported, and second-quarter 2009 pro forma non-GAAP results exclude $2.6 million of merger-related items mentioned above.

Total pro forma revenues decreased 14 percent from the prior year to $648 million, which was in line with first-quarter 2009 revenues. Pro forma operating expenses decreased 13 percent to $243 million, compared with the same period last year. Second-quarter pro forma operating income was $405 million, a decrease of 15 percent from $479 million for the year-ago period.

The company’s significant focus on expense management during ongoing challenging market conditions helped drive a strong pro forma operating margin of 63 percent, up from 61 percent in first-quarter 2009, and in line with the same period a year ago. Operating margin is defined as operating income as a percentage of total revenues. Second-quarter 2009 pro forma net income decreased 15 percent to $224 million, compared with second-quarter 2008.

Pro forma measures do not replace and are not a substitute for GAAP financial results. They are provided to improve overall understanding of current financial performance and to provide a meaningful comparison with prior periods. A full reconciliation of these second-quarter and first-half 2009 pro forma results to GAAP results is included with the attached financial statements.

All references to volume and rate per contract information in the text of this document exclude our non-traditional TRAKRS products, for which CME Group receives significantly lower clearing fees than other CME Group products, Swapstream, and HuRLO products.

“As the economy showed signs of stability, we saw increased volumes in June, particularly in interest rates, foreign exchange and agricultural markets” said CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy. “We continued to effectively manage expenses and generate significant free cash flow, while extending our product innovation through both exchange-traded and over-the-counter initiatives. Going forward, we anticipate that gradual economic improvement will provide further opportunities to serve existing and new customers around the world with our product mix, which covers all major asset classes, as well as with our superb clearing services and technological resources.”

“Improvements in the economy, and continued rigor in expense discipline, contributed to CME Group’s solid results in the second quarter,” said CME Group Chief Executive Officer Craig Donohue. “Second quarter over first quarter, we saw increased volume and open interest in our interest rate, FX and commodities product lines, as well as strong open interest growth in our energy and metals businesses. We also continued to leverage our CME ClearPort platform, providing a centrally cleared solution for the over-the-counter (OTC) market in an expanding range of product areas. Most recently, we announced the upcoming launch of clearing services for the OTC London gold forwards market beginning in August.”