On Thursday morning, CME Group Inc (NASDAQ:CME) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) reported their second quarter earnings.
CME Group: In the second quarter, the company’s profit declined 17 percent from the previous year. Net income dropped to $245 million ($0.74 cents a share) from the previous year’s $294 million ($0.88 cents a share).
In its press release, the company noted from the exclusion of its tax provision charges from its joint-venture with S&P Dow Jones Indices and its compensation costs, the company reported an $0.89 cents per share profit; this exceeded analysts’ estimates of $0.83 cents, according to Bloomberg. In addition, on July 20 CME split its stock five-for-one.
Net operating income slightly rose 0.9% from the previous year to $296.3 million.
CME’s total revenue fell 5.1% from the previous year to $795.9 million.
For the second quarter, daily futures and options volume fell 9 percent to an average of 12.4 million contracts. This came from the exchange’s interest rate futures, its most-actively traded contract; it dropped 20 percent to an average of 5.1 million contracts daily, down from the 6.4 million contracts in the previous year.
CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy said in the press release, “It has been a challenging year for the financial industry. In light of recent events, we have intensified our efforts in working closely with Congress, regulators and the entire futures industry to strengthen customer protections and ensure the integrity of these critical markets.”
So how did CME do as compared to its exchange peers? On Wednesday, NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) reported its second quarter operating earnings per share of $0.64, sightly higher than last year’s $0.62 cents a share earnings. It beat analysts estimates and its net income increased 1.1 percent to $92 million. The company cut this year’s core operating expense forecast to $870 million to $890 million.
On August 3, 2012, NYSE Euronext Inc. ( NYSE:NYX ) will report earnings.
Starwood Hotels: The company announced its second quarter net income fell 7 percent to $122 million ($0.62 cents per share) as compared to the previous year’s $131 million ($0.68 cents per share).
Excluding early debt extinguishment costs and earnings from continuing operations, Starwood’s earnings were $0.70 cents per share, reported the Associated Press. Analysts had estimated $0.61 cents per share.
Revenue increased 13 percent to $1.62 billion, up from the prior year’s $1.43 billion. This exceeded analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion.
On another positive note for Starwood, its revenue per available room rose 6.9 percent in the quarter with occupancy rates hitting 71 percent. The company separated itself from its rivals as it saw overseas strength; it continues to feel good about its upcoming China expansion.
CEO Frits van Paasschen said in a statement via the Associated Press, “We kept up our momentum in the second quarter, despite a choppy global economy.”
When comparing Starwood’s quarterly numbers to Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN), its improved numbers came from domestic guests. The company saw a rise in its adjusted net income to $128 million ($0.87 per share) as compared to the previous year’s $108 million ($0.64 per share). The increase came from healthy operating results in the company’s Lodging and Vacation Ownership businesses and for the earnings per share rise, its share repurchase program.
Second quarter revenues were $1.1 billion, representing a 4% rise from the previous year.
Analysts had estimated earnings at $0.84 per share on $1.16 billion in revenues.
