Slumping Volume Fuels NYSE Euronext's 1Q Miss

Hurt by shrinking trading volumes and its failed acquisition, Big Board parent NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) said Monday it suffered a steeper-than-expected 44% slump in first-quarter profits.

NYSE Euronext said it earned $87 million, down 44% from the year-earlier $155 million. On a per-share basis, operating earnings came in at 47 cents a share, missing the Street’s view by a penny.

The company was forced to take a $16 million charge related to its failed takeover by   Germany’s Deutsche Boerse that was blocked by regulators.

Revenue fell 11.5% to $601 million, trailing consensus calls from analysts for $611.2 million. Revenue was hurt by $9 million by foreign exchange fluctuations.

“Our first quarter results reflect the challenging operating environment which carried over into 2012 and will continue to result in near-term headwinds,” CEO Duncan Niederauer said in a statement.

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NYSE said average daily volume of U.S. cash trading in the first quarter slumped by 23% year-over-year to 1.8 billion shares. Volume was off 16% from the fourth quarter of 2011.

The exchange operator’s shares declined 2.11% to $26.50 ahead of the opening bell, eating into their slight 2012 gain of 3.7%.

NYSE Euronext, which lost out on the coveted Facebook listing to rival Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ), said it continues to capture share in tech initial public offerings. Highlighted by Yelp (NYSE:YELP), NYSE said it listed 13 new tech IPOs so far in 2012, or 59% of all tech IPOs.