MarketAxess Reports Record Revenues of $34.9 million for Q1 2010

MarketAxess reported record revenues of $34.9 million, an increase of 41.6 percent percent from$24.6 billion the first quarter of 2009, according to the operator of the electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities.

"Our strategy to expand our institutional trading network throughout the credit crisis is paying off with record revenues and earnings as the markets continue to recover," stated Richard M. McVey, chairman and chief executive officer of MarketAxess, in the release. "We are pleased with the growth that we are seeing in all of our major product areas and the momentum is building for greater electronic trading in fixed income markets," added McVey in the release.

Pre-tax income was a record $11.1 million compared to $4.7 million for the first quarter of 2009, an increase of 134.3 percent.Net income totaled $6.7 million, or $0.17 per share on a diluted basis, compared to $2.8 million or $0.08 per share on a diluted basis, for the first quarter of 2009.

MarketAxess earned commission revenue for the first quarter of 2010 totaling $29.3 million on total trading volume of $99.2 billion, compared to $20.4 million in commission revenue on total trading volume of $60.1 billion for the first quarter of 2009. U.S. high grade trading volume as a percentage of FINRA's high-grade TRACE trading volume increased to an estimated 7.9 percent, compared to an estimated 5.7 percent for the first quarter of 2009.

Technology products and services revenue, which includes revenue for technology licenses, support and professional services, totaled $3.2 million for the first quarter of 2010, compared to $2.0 million for the first quarter of 2009.

Total expenses increase 19.6 percent to $23.8 million, compared to $19.19 million for the first quarter of 2009. The increase was mainly due to higher employee compensation and benefits expense of $2.5 million and $0.6 million in one-time expenses related to the relocation to new corporate headquarters and the Haiti Charity Trading Day.

About 758 institutional investors are active users of the MarketAxess trading platform, which receives global liquidity from 72 broker-dealer clients in U.S. high-grade corporate bonds, European bonds, high yield and emerging markets bonds, agency bonds and credit default swaps.

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio