For the first quarter of 2007, ICE Futures ADV increased 89.2% to a record 530,825 contracts compared to 280,606 in the first quarter of 2006. NYBOT established a new ADV record for the quarter with 209,759 contracts, a 10.4% increase compared to the prior first quarter. Average daily commissions in ICE’s OTC business increased 98.3% to a record $754,499, compared to $380,548 in the first quarter of 2006.
“As we build on ICE’s track record as the fastest growing exchange business in the sector, we are successfully managing unparalleled growth across our global futures and OTC businesses while pursuing strategic opportunities in addition to those recently announced, such as our alliance with NGX, the integration of NYBOT, our proposal to merge with the CBOT, as well as further enhancements to our wholly-owned clearinghouse and our industry-leading technology platform,” said ICE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher.
Clearing Update
ICE is completing a $1.2 million investment to expand and support its Trade Registration System, or TRS. TRS is a leading clearing interface relied upon by European clearing firms for post-trade administration. The investment will support the implementation of new IT hardware by AEMS, the developer of the clearing software interface for ICE’s European customers. In addition, ICE has begun the upgrade and expansion of its U.S. post trade administration system known as Post Trade Management System, or PTMS. These hardware and software investments will allow for improved global connectivity to the New York Clearing Corp., NYBOT’s wholly-owned clearinghouse, using scalable systems that have been widely adopted by the global futures clearing community.
ICE Futures Volume and RPC
Total monthly volume at ICE Futures in March 2007 rose 69.1% to 11,494,013 contracts, compared to 6,797,173 contracts in March 2006. ADV for the month also rose 76.8% to 522,455 contracts compared to ADV of 295,529 contracts in March 2006. In March, ICE Brent Crude futures and ICE WTI Crude futures individually recorded their second best volume months in the exchange’s history.
Average daily volume for ICE Futures in the first quarter of 2007 rose 89.2% to 530,825 compared to the first quarter of 2006, marking the exchange’s highest volume quarter to date. During the month of March 2007, ICE Futures established several open interest records, including exchange-wide and in ICE Brent Crude and ICE WTI Crude.
In March 2007, the ICE Futures rate per contract (RPC) averaged $1.31. RPC is calculated by dividing transaction revenues by trading volume, and can vary depending upon customer and product mix. RPC in the first quarter of 2007 was $1.29. In February 2007, ICE Futures’ RPC was $1.28.
At March 30, open interest for ICE Futures stood at 1,748,737 contracts, compared to 1,416,470 contracts at December 31, 2006.
ICE Futures Segment: March Volume Statistics
| Contract |
Total Volume
Feb 2007 |
Total Volume
Mar 2006 |
Volume
% Change |
ADV
Mar 2007 |
ADV
Mar 2006 |
ADV
% Change |
| ICE Brent Crude futures |
5,180,267
|
3,738,287
|
38.6
|
235,467
|
162,534
|
44.9
|
| ICE WTI Crude futures |
4,207,900
|
1,562,748
|
169.3
|
191,268
|
67,946
|
181.5
|
| ICE GasOil futures |
1,887,895
|
1,428,191
|
32.2
|
85,813
|
62,095
|
38.2
|
| Other contracts* |
217,951
|
67,947
|
220.8
|
9,907
|
2,954
|
235.4
|
| Total ICE Futures contract volume |
11,494,013
|
6,797,173
|
69.1
|
522,455
|
295,529
|
76.8
|
* "Other contracts" include ICE Heating Oil futures, ICE Unleaded Gasoline Blendstock (RBOB) futures, ICE UK Natural Gas futures, ICE-ECX CFI futures, ICE UK Electricity futures, ICE Coal futures, ICE Brent options and ICE Gas Oil options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures shares in the revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract.
