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Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., which operates equities and options exchanges in the U.S. and abroad, reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Monday. Revenue declined, however, as trading volumes and pricing dipped.
On a conference call with analysts, Chairman and CEO Bob Greifeld discussed the company's opportunities for top-line growth.
QUESTION: Bob, you've historically kind of mapped out what you think the revenue opportunities are for some of your new initiatives and kind of ranked them. I think last call you mentioned IDCG (International Derivatives Clearing Group, the company's interest rate swap clearing business). Just wanted to get an update. You still have several things out there that you're working on, what do you think has the biggest opportunity, both near term as well as long-term in terms of your initiatives?
ANSWER: Well, we certainly believe that the interest rate swap market is the largest untapped market for us to try and gain traction in. And our feeling is it's almost hard to comprehend in 2010 that a market that large really doesn't have any basic organization to it. So that stands alone. Many good things going on here. I would certainly direct you to the U.K. power market, where as I said in my prepared comments, the spot market is at this point very successful. The large opportunity for us is in the derivatives market, and it's our goal to have that derivatives market launched sometime in the spring.
So we're optimistic about that. We are certainly excited about what a price size market can mean. It's hard for us to quantify that in any meaningful way at this point in time. We also have to get regulatory approval for that effort. So I would say just a number of good things going on here and they have different dimensions to them.
