CME Group Secures Record Revenues for Q1 2018

Chicago-based CME Group (NASDAQ: CME), one of the world’s paramount exchange operators, has published its financial results for the first quarter of 2018, which were largely better when weighed against its 2017 equivalent, according to a CME statement.

For Q1 2018, CME Group revealed that revenues were pointed higher compared to a year earlier, coming in at $1.1 billion, up by nearly 20 percent from ‎$929.3 million in the Q1 2017.

CME’s total operating income for Q1 2018 yielded a profit of $741 million – this represents an increase of 23 percent year-on-year from $600 million in 2017.

Another area of strength for the quarter was the group’s earnings per share (EPS), which rose to $1.76 in Q1 2018, up 49 percent year-on-year from $1.18 in the same period a year earlier.

Net income for Q1 2018 was also up year-on-year by a factor of 50 percent after recording $599 billion compared to $399 billion in Q1 2017.

The group’s solid first quarter financial performance was driven by the 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 Q1 2018. The standout performance showed the highest ever average daily volume of 22.2 million contracts, which correlates to a gain of 30 percent year-on-year.

The Q1 financial release follows on the heels of last month’s volumes report that showed growth back in March 2018 across key business segments.

Commenting on the results, CME Group CEO Terry Duffy, said: “Broad-based strength across all of our asset classes drove first-quarter revenue to more than $1.1 billion, up nearly 20 percent compared with a strong first quarter last year. We achieved quarterly average daily volume records in five of our six product lines, as well as records in total options and electronic options.”

“From a global perspective, we had growth of 41 percent in Asia and 37 percent in Europe during the quarter, with each product line experiencing increases of more than 30 percent from non-U.S. customers,” he added. “In addition to significant revenue growth, our focus on expense efficiency contributed to a 50 percent increase in net income compared with the same quarter last year.”