NYSE-Owner ICE Reports 49% Profit Jump

Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, reported a 49 percent jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by higher revenue from trading and listing fees and cost cuts.

Net income attributable to ICE rose to $306 million, or $2.76 per share in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, from $206 million, or $1.80 per share a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned $2.91 per share, a shade below the average analyst estimate of $2.92, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Operating expenses fell 9.4 percent to $376 million, while total revenue rose 14 percent to $1.15 billion. Fee income from the company's transaction and clearing operations, data services and listings all rose.

The exchange and clearing house operator said it expected fourth quarter adjusted operating expenses of between $330 million and $335 million.

ICE, which began as an energy exchange in 2000 and has expanded through acquisitions of companies including the New York Board of Trade, said it would discuss its recently announced deal to buy financial data firm Interactive Data Corp on an conference call later on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)