CME Group Reports Solid Q2 Revenues, Yet Lower QoQ

World’s largest futures Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term operator CME Group Inc (NASDAQ: CME) on Thursday published its financial results for the second quarter of 2018, which were mostly better when weighed against their 2017 equivalents, according to a CME statement.

For Q2 2018, CME Group revealed that revenues were pointed higher compared to a year earlier, coming in at $1.06 billion, up 14.5 percent from $925 million in the Q2 2017.

CME’s total operating income for Q2 2018 yielded a profit of $667 million – this represents an increase of 10 percent year-on-year from $605.6 million in 2017.

Another area of strength for the quarter was the group’s earnings per share (EPS), which rose to $1.66 in Q2 2018, up 36 percent year-on-year from $1.22 in the same period a year earlier.

Net income for Q2 2018 was also up year-on-year by a factor of 36.4 percent after recording $566 million compared to $415 million in Q2 2017. On an adjusted basis, net income was $591 million, and diluted earnings per share were $1.74.

The group’s solid second quarter financial performance was driven by the second highest quarterly average daily volume to date, including record volumes in energy, and overall options and electronic options trading.

CME has notched growth across most of its six product lines in Q2 2018. The standout performance showed an average daily volume of 18.4 million contracts, which correlates to a gain of 12 percent year-on-year. But in terms of its overall volume for Q2 2018, CME Group reported a fall of 17 percent quarter-over-quarter from 22.2 million contracts per day in the Jan-March quarter.

CME Pushes into Cryptocurrency

Like other exchange operators, CME booked gains in the first quarter after global equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities markets were roiled by an increase in Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad Read this Term in February that extended into March.

Meanwhile, CME has been looking to develop its cryptocurrency and non-trading related businesses such as its market data and information services. Most recently, it announced plans to provide a real-time Ethereum price listing.

Earlier in May, the CME Group made headlines after the exchange operator reached ‎a landmark deal to acquire London-based fintech firm NEX in a transaction valued at £‎3.80 billion ($5.35 billion).

Commenting on the results, CME Group’s CEO Terry Duffy, said: "With double-digit growth in five of our six asset classes, Q2 2018 was our second best quarter ever in average daily volume, following record performance in the first quarter of 2018. We continued to see strong global growth as our trading volume increased 30 percent in Asia and 9 percent in Europe. Total revenue grew 15 percent and, along with our continued focus on expense discipline, resulted in margin expansion and an adjusted earnings per share increase of more than 40 percent."