Intercontinental Exchange Inc has no immediate plans to sell the New York Stock Exchange, which it expects to become more profitable as a result of extensive ongoing restructuring, ICE Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Sprecher said on Wednesday. The NYSE, which exchange and clearing house operator ICE bought for $11 billion in November 2013 in order to gain control of Liffe, Europe's No. 2 derivatives market, may have the fastest earnings per share (EPS) growth of all of the businesses ICE operates, Sprecher said at a Goldman Sachs conference.Stock exchanges generally have thinner profit margins than derivatives exchanges, which ICE has traditionally specialized in running, and U.S. stock trading volumes have dropped significantly over the past several years.Competition from broker-run private trading systems also has siphoned business away from exchanges, which now make most of their revenues selling market data, technology, and other services.ICE has cut several senior managers at the NYSE, which traces its origins back to an agreement signed under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in 1792, in order to streamline the business.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc, formerly IntercontinentalExchange Group, Inc. Shares of ICE fell by 0.63% or $-1.42/share to $223.05. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $182.40 and as high as $229.50. On average, 826319 shares of ICE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 740555.
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