CME CME Group Inc

CME Group Inc. reported Thursday that busier energy and metal markets were offset by sagging volumes in equity and agricultural commodities as the futures market logged nearly flat quarterly revenue.

The Chicago-based futures market—the world's biggest—generates most of its revenue from transaction fees, which rise and fall with trading volume.

Like other exchange operators, including CBOE Holdings Inc. and Intercontinental Exchange Inc., CME saw record trading volume in 2015.

After stumbling at the end of last year, marked by worries over China, economic uncertainty in the U.S. and choppy financial markets, trading volumes have rebounded.

For the latest quarter, CME said average daily volume in the quarter was 14.3 million contracts, flat when compared with a year earlier. Clearing and transaction fees fell to $704.2 million from $715 million.

"We are pleased with the overall results this quarter considering there was a significant reduction in market volatility, primarily in financial products, from the same period last year," said Terry Duffy, president and executive chairman of CME Group.

Energy and metals trading surged with volumes rising 16% and 22%, respectively. Meanwhile, equity slipped 12.5% and agricultural commodities fell 8.8%.

Exchanges including CME have worked to diversify their businesses, with some focusing on data provision as a source of steady revenue to lean on when turbulent markets result in lower trading fees.

For CME, data revenue growth has been slowing in recent quarters, registering 1.6% growth in the latest quarter.

Quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations for adjusted earnings by a penny, but missed revenue projections.

In all, CME reported a profit of $472.8 million, or $1.39 a share, up from $359.9 million, or $1.06 a share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, profit slipped to $1.05 from $1.06.

Revenue declined 1% to $841.7 million.

Analysts had projected $1.04 in earnings per share and $848.1 million in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

Shares in the company, up 9.4% this year, were inactive premarket.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2016 08:25 ET (12:25 GMT)

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