Interactive Brokers posts 62% surge in profit
By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:28 p.m. EST Jan. 24, 2008Print E-mail RSS Disable Live Quotes
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Interactive Brokers Group, one of last year's richest initial public offerings, reported on Thursday a 62% surge in fourth-quarter earnings, citing increased volatility and trading volumes in the growing exchange-listed derivatives sector.
Shares of Interactive Brokers jumped 3.1% in regular trades to close at $32.86, before falling to $30.85 in after-hours action.
The Greenwich, Conn.-based electronic marketplace handed in a profit of $18.9 million, or 46 cents a share, up from to $11.7 million or 29 cents a share a year ago.
Revenue rose to $397.5 million from $293.2 million last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for earnings, on average, of 43 cents a share with sales of $389.1 million.
Chairman and Chief Executive Thomas Peterffy said that the company is benefiting from uncertainty surrounding credit risk associated with over-the-counter products.
"[Thursday's] announcement of the monumental loss by Societe Generale further underlines this point," he commented. "As the largest player in the exchange-listed derivatives space, Interactive Brokers expects this trend of growing exchange volumes to continue in the future."
Earlier in the day, Societe Generale, France's second-largest bank, shocked financial markets when it announced that a single trader had cost the company 4.9 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in one of the largest-ever frauds by a rogue employee. See full story.
Peterffy said that exchange-listed products offer the advantages of transparency and the security of a central clearinghouse. |
