Deutsche Boerse Q1 Xetra earnings falls 63%

German stock market operator Deutsche Boerse said first quarter operating earnings at its flagship Xetra electronic trading system tumbled 63%, showing the extent of its exposure to a global equity slump.

The Irish Stock Exchange has a strategic alliance with the Deutsche Bourse. Through this alliance, the Dublin market operates an electronic trading system for Irish equities on a special segment of the Xetra trading platform in Frankfurt.

Deutsche Boerse, unveiling detailed first quarter results, said earnings before interest and tax at Xetra fell to 13.4 million euros from 36.1 million a year ago.

Revenue from Xetra fell 7.9% to 66.3 million euros from 72 million in the first three months of last year. Deutsche Boerse said in March it expected Xetra revenue for the first quarter to fall up to 10% due to global stock market weakness.

Deutsche Boerse released results earlier this month showing a 57.1% rise in first quarter pre-tax profit to 98.8 million euros with EBIT rising 46.4% in the quarter to 90.2 million euros.

Deutsche Boerse said that owing to a concentration of costs for projects which will come to a close in the fourth quarter, net income in the fourth quarter is historically lower than in the first three quarters of the year.

The stock market operator said Xetra was affected among other reasons by investment costs of a new financial Internet portal for the Neuer Markt for growth stocks.

But analysts said increased revenue and earnings from international derivatives exchange Eurex, which Deutsche Boerse co-owns with the Swiss Stock Exchange, helped the exchange operator's overall Q1 results. Eurex sales rose 41.2% to 61.3 million euros while EBIT rose 43.1% to 27.9 million euros.

The stock market group went public after a bid to merge with the London Stock Exchange failed last year. The listing raised almost one billion euros for investment and acquisition but the company has yet to detail how it will spend the money.