NYSE Euronext Profit Drops 28%

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- NYSE Euronext(NYX Quote), owner of ubiquitous trading platforms like the New York Stock Exchange, said drooping sales helped push profit down by 28% in the third-quarter.

On Friday, NYSE Euronext said profit dropped to $125 million, or 48 cents a share, after posting $174 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. After accounting for various items, the operation said it earned 53 cents a share on a non-GAAP basis.

"We continue to see stabilization in our core businesses and significant progress on our new initiatives," NYSE Euronext CEO Duncan L. Niederauer said in a statement.

Slumps in global cash equity volumes and down prices helped limit total revenues to $1.16 billion, down from $1.21 billion in the year-ago, the concern said.

"Despite lower overall trading volumes, the contribution of NYSE Liffe Clearing revenue during the quarter drove higher net revenues and earnings per share compared to the second quarter," chief financial officer Michael Geltzeiler also added in the press release.

In another release issued Friday, NYSE Euronext also announced a deal to sell a "significant equity interest" in NYSE Liffe U.S. to a consortium including Citadel Securities, GETCO, Goldman Sachs(GS Quote), Morgan Stanley(MS Quote) and UBS(UBS Quote). NYSE Euronext will continue as the largest shareholder.

NYSE Euronext shares, which added 2.8% on Thursday, were gaining another 42 cents, or 1.5%, at $28 during premarket trading on Friday.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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