– Operating Income up 17% to $140 MM
- Record Quarterly Futures Volume -
OTC Energy ADC of $1.25 MM - $3.5 Trillion in CDS Cleared to Date Globally
IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global exchanges, clearing houses and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today reported record consolidated revenues of $256 million in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 27% from third quarter 2008 revenues of $201 million. Consolidated net income for the third quarter grew 16% to $87 million from $75 million in the prior third quarter. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the third quarter were $1.18, up 13% from third quarter 2008 diluted EPS of $1.04.
Said ICE chairman and cep Jeffrey C. Sprecher: "ICE has brought innovation to the financial services sector to help ensure the health of the markets we serve, while maintaining a focus on growth. Over the past year, our markets have shown resilience as customers worldwide increasingly demand the trading and risk management services we offer. We believe that the financial market reforms currently under way will provide greater certainty to market participants, as well as additional opportunities for ICE to leverage the valuable exchange, technology and clearing infrastructure that it has developed over the past decade."
ICE cfo Scott Hill added: "Our results in the third quarter reflect strong performance in our core business, as well as ongoing investment in and successful execution of newer initiatives, such as OTC clearing. In addition to top-line growth, our operating margins again improved sequentially, and we delivered increased earnings and cash flow. Our consistent cash generation, strong balance sheet and disciplined investment throughout the market downturn position us well to deliver increasing value to our customers and shareholders."
Third Quarter 2009 Results
ICE’s third quarter 2009 consolidated revenues increased 27% to $256 million, compared to $201 million in the third quarter of 2008. Consolidated transaction and clearing fee revenues in the quarter grew 34% to $229 million, from $171 million in the third quarter of 2008. The increase in transaction and clearing fee revenues was driven primarily by new products, strong trading volume in ICE’s futures and OTC energy segments, continued growth since the launch of ICE Clear Europe in November 2008 and the addition of OTC credit derivatives execution, processing and clearing services.
Transaction and clearing fee revenues in ICE’s futures segment totaled $104 million in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 28% from $81 million in the same period in 2008. Average daily volume (ADV) for ICE’s futures exchanges increased 24% from the same period in the prior year to a record 1,062,429 contracts, and total volume in the quarter rose to a record 68 million contracts. ICE Futures Europe ADV was a record 676,020 contracts, an increase of 19% from the third quarter of 2008, and total volume reached a record 43.3 million contracts. The rate per contract (RPC) for ICE Futures Europe in the third quarter of 2009 was $1.53.
ICE Futures U.S. ADV was 375,772 contracts, which was 34% higher than third quarter 2008 ADV of 280,317 contracts. RPC for ICE Futures U.S. agricultural futures and options contracts was $2.08, and RPC for financial contracts averaged $0.89 in the third quarter of 2009. ADV for ICE Futures Canada was 10,637 contracts during the third quarter, an increase of 12% compared to 9,526 contracts in the year-ago period. ICE Futures U.S. and ICE Futures Canada recorded third quarter volume of 24.0 million and 0.7 million contracts, respectively.
Third quarter 2009 transaction and clearing fee revenues in ICE’s global OTC segment increased 39% to $125 million, compared to $90 million for the comparable period in 2008. Average daily commissions (ADC) for ICE’s OTC energy business were $1.25 million, an increase of 12% from $1.11 million in the same period of 2008. Cleared contracts accounted for 96% of OTC energy contract volume during the third quarter of 2009. In ICE’s credit derivative markets, third quarter transaction and clearing fee revenues were $43 million, up 6% versus the same period in 2008 on a pro-forma basis. ICE acquired Creditex in August 2008.
Consolidated market data revenues were $25 million in the third quarter of 2009, a decline of 3% from the same period in 2008. Consolidated other revenues were $3 million during the third quarter of 2009, compared to $5 million in the third quarter of 2008.
Consolidated operating expenses increased 41% to $116 million in the quarter, compared to $82 million in third quarter of 2008. This increase is primarily attributable to a $27 million rise in expenses relating to ICE’s credit derivatives execution, processing and clearing initiatives, including compensation expenses and amortization of intangibles. After acquiring Creditex in August 2008, ICE acquired The Clearing Corporation (TCC) in March 2009 and launched credit default swaps (CDS) clearing via ICE Trust and ICE Clear Europe in March and July 2009, respectively. Though the credit business continued to require heavy investment common to start-up initiatives, the underlying operating margins improved, and the business was cash positive in the quarter. The expense growth was also due, to a lesser extent, to ICE recording a full quarter of amortization expense in the third quarter of 2009 for its Russell license agreement totaling $6.5 million, compared to $685,000 in the prior third quarter.
Consolidated operating income in the quarter grew 17% to $140 million, compared to third quarter 2008 operating income of $119 million. Operating margin was 55%, compared to 54% in the second quarter of 2009, and 59% in the prior third quarter.
The effective tax rate for the quarter was 36.8%, compared to 36.6% for the third quarter of 2008.
First Nine Months of 2009 Results
Consolidated revenues in the first nine months of 2009 were $738 million, an increase of 22% from same period of 2008. Futures volumes in the first three quarters grew 10% to 195.2 million contracts, driving consolidated futures transaction and clearing fee revenue growth of 16% compared to same period of 2008. ICE’s global OTC transaction revenues were $348 million in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 40% from the same period in 2008, driven primarily by the addition of revenues related to Creditex and CDS clearing. ICE’s OTC energy business delivered ADC of $1.16 million in the first nine months of the year, a decline of 4% from the same period of 2008. Consolidated market data revenues were $76 million, in-line with the first three quarters of 2008. Consolidated operating margins were 53% for the first nine months of 2009.
For the first nine months of 2009, consolidated net income was $231 million on a GAAP basis, with EPS of $3.13. During the first quarter of 2009, consolidated operating expenses also included pre-tax charges of $11 million related to ICE’s acquisition of TCC and other restructuring charges. In addition, in the second quarter of 2009, ICE took a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of $9 million related to its investment in the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange in India (NCDEX). Excluding these first quarter charges and the NCDEX impairment in the second quarter of 2009, net of taxes, adjusted consolidated net income for the first three quarters of 2009 was $251 million and adjusted diluted EPS were $3.39, compared to $252 million and $3.51 for the first nine months of 2008. Adjusted consolidated net income and diluted EPS declined 1% and 3%, respectively, compared to the first nine months of 2008.
Cash flows from operations totaled $291 million in the first nine months of 2009, compared to $299 million in the same period of 2008. Capital expenditures and capitalized software development costs totaled $29 million during the first nine months of 2009, down $1 million from the same period in 2008.
Unrestricted cash and investments were $424 million as of September 30, 2009, up $134 million from December 31, 2008. At the end of the quarter, ICE had $330 million in outstanding debt.
Guidance and Additional Information
— ICE had 821 employees as of September 30, 2009. By the end of the year,
headcount is expected to increase 1% to 2% as certain contractors
transition to full time status at TCC. This guidance excludes any
personnel additions relating to merger and acquisition activity in the
remainder of 2009.
— ICE’s diluted share count for the fourth quarter of 2009 is expected to
be in the range of 74.2 million to 74.8 million weighted average shares
outstanding, and the diluted share count for fiscal year 2009 is
expected to be in the range of 73.6 million to 74.6 million weighted
average shares outstanding.
— ICE’s remaining capacity in its share repurchase program is $200
million.
Earnings Conference Call Information
ICE will hold a conference call today, November 3, at 8:30 a.m. ET to review its third quarter 2009 financial results. A live audio webcast of the earnings call will be available on the company’s website at www.theice.com under About ICE/Investors & Media. Participants may also listen via telephone by dialing (800) 341-3130 if calling from the United States, or (913) 981-5517 if dialing from outside of the United States. For participants on the telephone, please place your call ten minutes prior to the start of the call.
The call will be archived on the company’s website for replay. A telephone replay of the earnings call will also be available at (888) 203-1112 for callers within the United States and at (719) 457-0820 for callers outside of the United States. The passcode for the replay is 2546103.
Historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at:
http://ir.theice.com/supplemental.cfm
ng performance.
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2009
——————
(In thousands,
except per share
amounts)
Net income attributable to ICE $231,734
Add: NCDEX impairment charge 9,276
Add: Transaction costs incurred for the TCC acquisition 5,609
Add: First quarter of 2009 employee termination costs
from Creditex acquisition 2,902
Add: Costs incurred to vacate office space 2,980
Less: Income tax expense for non recurring expenses (1,774)
——
Adjusted net income $250,727
========
Earnings per share attributable to ICE common shareholders:
Basic $3.18
=====
Diluted $3.13
=====
Adjusted earnings per share attributable to ICE common
shareholders:
Adjusted basic $3.44
=====
Adjusted diluted $3.39
=====
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic 72,887
======
Diluted 73,949
======
The tax impact of the NCDEX impairment loss was additional tax expense of $1.8 million due to the recording of a valuation allowance, related to the deferred tax benefit recorded in the three months ended December 31, 2008, which was in excess of the tax benefit recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2009.