By William Wilkes 
 

FRANKFURT--Deutsche Boerse AG on Wednesday said it would increase its dividend for 2016 after profits met the upper end of forecasts and income rose in the fourth quarter.

Germany's biggest exchange operator said net profit rose to EUR170 million ($180 million) from EUR88.7 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts had forecast net profits of EUR165M

Net revenue rose to EUR619 million in 4Q from EUR553.5 million a year ago. Analysts had forecast net revenue of EUR593 million.

For the full year, net profit was EUR722.1 million on net revenue of EUR2.39 billion. The revenue figure was the highest since 2008. The company said it would boost its 2016 dividend to EUR2.35 per share from EUR2.25 per share in 2015.

The company said it expected net income to rise by between 10 and 15% in 2017.

Carsten Kengeter, Chief Executive of Deutsche Boerse did not make detailed comment about the company's planned merger with London Stock Exchange PLC, noting only that progress had been made on the deal.

Deutsche Boerse released the financial results after the market close on Wednesday. It will comment further about its strategy at news and analyst conferences on Thursday.

Write to William Wilkes at william.wilkes@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2017 15:37 ET (20:37 GMT)