Nex bows out

A return to volatile markets in late February and early March helped to bump-up the top-line, but increased IT and employee costs (including back-dated national insurance contributions) constrained profitability. Meaningful cash-flow comparatives are difficult to elicit because the IGBB business (global hybrid voice broking) was presented as discontinued operations for the prior year, but CME shareholders will doubtless be glad to see net debt rising on the back of dividend payments. They will also note a three-percentage point reduction in the operating margin.

The NEX Markets division, including the BrokerTec and EBS platforms, recorded a 4 per cent rise in revenue, though sales in the former business segment, which provides access to US Treasuries, European sovereign bonds and the EU and US repo trade, were basically flat on FY2017. Aside from Feb/March spike, the Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's "fear gauge", is up from a year ago, partly a consequence of a sustained shift out of emerging market currencies into the US dollar, a plus point for Nex platforms (and CME) for the remainder of 2018.