CME Group Starts off 2020 with Solid Q1 Trading and Revenues

CME Group, a financial derivatives exchange, has published its financial results for the first quarter of 2020 this Wednesday, revealing an uptick in trading volumes and other key financial metrics, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

During the three month period, CME Group reported revenue of $1.52 billion. When measuring this against the same period of the previous year, which had revenue of $1.18 billion, it has increased by 29.0 per cent.

Net income for the period was $766 million, which is higher by 54.6 per cent on a yearly comparison, and operating income rose by 52.1 per cent year-on-year to reach $960 million for the first quarter of 2020.

CME Group achieves record trading volumes in Q1

In terms of trading volume, the average daily volume (ADV) for Q1 of 2020 reached record levels overall, as well for the EMEA and APAC regions specifically. For the whole exchange, the ADV was 27 million contracts which represents a yearly growth of 45 per cent.

The ADV for non-US contracts hit 7.3 million contracts. Against Q1 of 2019, this is up by 56 per cent and includes 54 per cent growth in Europe, 73 per cent growth in Asia and 21 per cent in Latin America.

Commenting on the results, CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy said in the statement: "... I am extremely proud of the resilience demonstrated by CME Group employees, most of whom are working remotely, to ensure our systems and markets continue to operate efficiently despite periods of extreme 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.

“During the quarter, we saw significantly increased levels of client hedging and risk transfer, across all products and time zones. Though the long-term effects of the pandemic are still unknown, we remain focused on the health and safety of the entire CME Group community, as well as on facilitating Risk Management Risk Management One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, One of the most common terms utilized by brokers, risk management refers to the practice of identifying potential risks in advance. Most commonly, this also involves the analysis of risk and the undertaking of precautionary steps to both mitigate and prevent for such risk.Such efforts are essential for brokers and venues in the finance industry, given the potential for fallout in the face of unforeseen events or crises. Given a more tightly regulated environment across nearly every asset class, Read this Term for our market participants during these extraordinary times and beyond."

The first three months of 2020 also delivered clearing and transaction fees revenue of $1.3 billion. According to the statement, the total average rate per contract was $0.676, down 6 per cent compared with fourth-quarter 2019.