IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today reported record annual volume in all of its business segments, including record OTC commissions. ICE Futures Europe(TM) achieved record annual volume for the 10th consecutive year, with an increase of 49% in 2007 over annual volume in 2006. In 2007, volume at ICE Futures U.S.(TM) exceeded 2006 results by 22%. Also for the year ended December 31, 2007, average daily commissions in the OTC segment increased by 39% to $819,739, representing the fourth consecutive year of record commissions.
-- Average daily volume (ADV) at ICE Futures Europe reached 469,407 contracts traded in December 2007, an increase of 19% over December 2006. ADV for the 12 months ended December 31, 2007, was 539,044, up 44% over 2006. -- ADV at ICE Futures U.S. was 208,073 contracts in December 2007, up 31% from December 2006. ADV for the full year was 214,816 in 2007, an increase of 23% compared to 2006. -- ADV at ICE Futures Canada(TM) (formerly Winnipeg Commodity Exchange (WCE)) in December 2007 was 19,251 contracts, an increase of 21% compared to December 2006. ADV for the full year was 13,864 in 2007, an increase of 18% over 2006. WCE was renamed ICE Futures Canada on January 1, 2008. -- Average daily commissions in December for ICE's global OTC business were $799,749, a 45% increase over December 2006. Average daily commissions were $819,739 for the full year of 2007, up 39% over 2006.
"We continue to focus on meeting the needs of our customers through new product development, technology innovation and efficient operations. In 2007, we completed five acquisitions and now offer a more diverse product set with expanded participation on our global platform," said ICE Chairman and CEO Jeffrey C. Sprecher. "These acquisitions, combined with key strategic partnerships and continued organic growth, set a solid foundation for 2008."
European Futures Volume and RPC
ICE Futures Europe reported total volume in December 2007 of 9,388,137 contracts, up 19% from 7,890,859 contracts in December 2006. ADV for the month rose 19% from 394,543 contracts in December 2006 to 469,407 contracts in December 2007. In the fourth quarter, ADV at ICE Futures Europe totaled 550,174 contracts, an increase of 25% over the prior fourth quarter.
The three-month rolling average rate per contract (RPC) for the fourth quarter of 2007 was $1.27. RPC is calculated by dividing transaction revenues by contract volume, and can vary based on pricing, customer and product mix. RPC averaged $1.28 for each of the rolling three-month periods ended November 2007 and October 2007.
In 2007, exchange-wide volume for ICE Futures Europe increased 49%, reaching a record 138.5 million contracts compared to the prior year's record 92.7 million contracts.
The ICE Brent Crude and WTI Crude futures contracts each set an annual volume record of 59.7 million and 51.4 million, respectively, surpassing the previous annual records by 35% and 79%. In addition, the ICE Gas Oil futures contract set an annual volume record of 24.5 million contracts, exceeding last year's volume of 18.3 million contracts by 34%.
On December 31, 2007, open interest for ICE Futures Europe was 1,641,399 contracts, an increase of 16% over the 1,416,470 contracts at December 31, 2006.
North American Futures Volume and RPC
Total futures and options volume at ICE Futures U.S. increased 25% to 3,972,640 contracts in December 2007, compared to volume of 3,176,735 contracts in December 2006. December 2007 ADV rose 31%, to 208,073 contracts, compared with 158,837 contracts in December 2006. In the fourth quarter, ADV at ICE Futures U.S. totaled 201,640, an increase of 26% over the prior fourth quarter.
Electronic trading represented 88% of total ICE Futures U.S. agricultural commodity futures contracts traded in December 2007, compared to 82% in November. ADV for electronically traded agricultural commodity futures was 108,365 contracts; total agricultural commodity futures ADV was 123,652 contracts in December 2007.
The three-month rolling average RPC for the period of September 2007 through November 2007 was $2.08 for agricultural futures and options. RPC averaged $2.08 and $2.07 for the rolling three months ended October 2007 and September 2007, respectively. RPC for ICE Futures U.S. is reported one month in arrears.
In 2007, exchange-wide volume for ICE Futures U.S. increased 22%, reaching a record 53.6 million contracts compared to the prior year's record of 44 million contracts. Electronic trading represented 70% of total ICE Futures U.S. agricultural commodity futures for the full year 2007.
The ICE Futures U.S. Cocoa, Cotton, Coffee "C" and Sugar futures contracts, as well as Cotton and Coffee "C" options contracts, each set annual volume records of 3.3 million, 6.3 million, 5.1 million, 21.3 million, 3.5 million and 3.0 million, respectively.
December 2007 contract volume for ICE's Canadian futures business, ICE Futures Canada, was 365,769 contracts, up 21% over December 2006. ADV for the month of December was 19,251 contracts, an increase of 21% over the prior year. In the fourth quarter, ADV at ICE Futures Canada totaled 17,347, an increase of 25% over the prior fourth quarter.
In 2007, exchange-wide volume for ICE Futures Canada rose 19%, reaching a record 3.45 million contracts compared to the prior year's total volume of 2.89 million contracts. The previous calendar year volume record was set in 2001 when a total of 2.98 million contracts were traded. The Canola futures contract set an annual volume record of 3,169,182 surpassing the contract's previous annual record by 22%.
Global OTC Markets
In December 2007, ICE's average daily commissions reached $799,749, an increase of 45% compared to $551,589 in December 2006. Average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in ICE's global OTC energy markets. For the fourth quarter of 2007, average daily commissions were a record $912,967, an increase of 28% over the prior fourth quarter.
For the full-year 2007, average daily commissions reached a record $819,739, an increase of 39% over the prior annual record set in 2006 of $589,158.
Additional December 2007 Information: -- ICE announced that the Board of Directors of its ICE Futures U.S. subsidiary unanimously voted to end open-outcry trading for futures contracts at the end of February 2008, as trading in the exchange's futures contracts is now primarily electronic. Trading in ICE Futures U.S. futures products will be available exclusively on the ICE platform beginning the evening of Sunday, March 2, 2008 for the trade date March 3, 2008. -- ICE transitioned ICE Futures Canada's futures and options on futures contracts for Canola, Feed Wheat and Western Barley to the ICE platform on December 10. -- The cleared and bilateral markets for NGX's North American physical natural gas and Canadian electricity products will be offered alongside ICE's markets on the ICE trading platform beginning on January 14, 2008. -- Trading days in December 2007: * ICE Futures Europe: 20 * ICE Futures U.S. Agricultural: 19 * ICE Futures U.S. Currency and Index: 20 * ICE Futures Canada: 19 * ICE OTC: 20 -- ICE Futures U.S. product records achieved for the month: * An open interest record of 911,735 contracts was established for Sugar No. 11 futures. * An open interest record of 1,519,634 contracts was established for total agricultural options. ICE Futures: December 2007 Average Daily Volume by Product ADV ADV ADV ADV December December % % Product Line 2007 2006 Change Electronic (8) ICE Brent Crude futures 206,032 166,454 23.8 n/a ICE WTI Crude futures 163,621 147,918 10.6 n/a ICE Gas Oil futures 90,664 74,480 21.7 n/a Other contracts (1) 9,090 5,691 59.7 n/a Total ICE Futures Europe 469,407 394,543 19.0 n/a Sugar No. 11 futures 78,408 51,199 53.1 90.6 Other agricultural commodity contracts (2) 110,419 84,843 30.1 82.6 Currency futures (3) 8,459 15,207 -44.4 4.3 Index futures (4) 10,247 7,018 46.0 54.6 Other contracts (5) 541 569 -5.0 n/a Total ICE Futures U.S. 208,073 158,837 31.0 82.0 Total ICE Futures Canada (6) 19,251 15,918 20.9 100% TOTAL FUTURES CONTRACTS (7) 696,731 569,298 22.4 n/a (1)"Other contracts" include ICE Middle East Sour Crude futures, which began trading May 21, 2007; 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; ICE WTI options, and ICE Gas Oil options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures Europe and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures Europe shares in the revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract. (2) "Other agricultural commodity contracts" include futures and/or options for Cocoa, Coffee "C", Cotton No. 2, Orange Juice, Sugar No. 14 and Sugar No. 11 options. (3) "Currency contracts" include futures for foreign exchange products. (4) "Index contracts" include futures for the US Dollar Index, Russell 2000, Russell 2000 mini, Russell 1000, Russell 1000 mini, the Continuous Commodity Index, the Euro Index, and the NYSE Composite. ICE Futures U.S. has revised the computation process and reporting methodology of the regular Russell 1000 Index contract volume and open interest. Before May, full-size Russell volumes and open interests were calculated in terms of equivalent mini futures contracts and published in aggregate with the results of mini contracts. From May 11, 2007 onwards, separate volume and open interest have been computed and published for regular and mini Russell futures contracts. Published volumes and open interests prior to May 2007 have been converted according to the current standard for the purpose of accurate volume comparison. (5) "Other contracts" include options on foreign exchange futures and options on index futures. (6) "ICE Futures Canada contracts" include futures and options for Canola, Feed Wheat and Western Barley. (7) ICE Futures U.S. was acquired by ICE on January 12, 2007, and ICE Futures Canada was acquired by ICE on August 27, 2007. The 2006 data is included for comparison purposes. (8) ADV % Electronic calculation applies to ICE Futures U.S. and excludes products that were not available for electronic trading at any time during the month. ICE Futures Europe is an electronic exchange. ICE Futures: Full-Year 2007 Average Daily Volume by Product ADV ADV ADV ADV Full-Year Full-Year % % Product Line 2007 2006 Change Electronic (8) ICE Brent Crude futures 232,408 173,227 34.2 n/a ICE WTI Crude futures 199,955 123,059 62.5 n/a ICE Gas Oil futures 95,369 71,446 33.5 n/a Other contracts (1) 11,311 5,516 105.1 n/a Total ICE Futures Europe 539,044 373,248 44.4 n/a Sugar No. 11 futures 85,397 60,403 41.4 75.4 Other agricultural commodity contracts (2) 115,325 99,397 16.0 63.2 Currency futures (3) 8,195 9,692 -15.4 3.8 Index futures (4) 5,260 5,109 3.0 56.2 Other contracts (5) 639 795 -19.6 n/a Total ICE Futures U.S. 214,816 175,396 22.5 69.3 Total ICE Futures Canada (6) 13,864 11,680 18.4 100% TOTAL FUTURES CONTRACTS (7) 767,724 560,324 37.0 n/a (1)"Other contracts" include ICE Middle East Sour Crude futures, which began trading May 21, 2007; 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; ICE WTI options, and ICE Gas Oil options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures Europe and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures Europe shares in the revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract. (2) "Other agricultural commodity contracts" include futures and/or options for Cocoa, Coffee "C", Cotton No. 2, Orange Juice, Sugar No. 14 and Sugar No. 11 options. (3) "Currency contracts" include futures for foreign exchange products. (4) "Index contracts" include futures for the US Dollar Index, Russell 2000, Russell 2000 mini, Russell 1000, Russell 1000 mini, the Continuous Commodity Index, the Euro Index, and the NYSE Composite. ICE Futures U.S. has revised the computation process and reporting methodology of the regular Russell 1000 Index contract volume and open interest. Before May, full-size Russell volumes and open interests were calculated in terms of equivalent mini futures contracts and published in aggregate with the results of mini contracts. From May 11, 2007 onwards, separate volume and open interest have been computed and published for regular and mini Russell futures contracts. Published volumes and open interests prior to May 2007 have been converted according to the current standard for the purpose of accurate volume comparison. (5) "Other contracts" include options on foreign exchange futures and options on index futures. (6) "ICE Futures Canada contracts" include futures and options for Canola, Feed Wheat and Western Barley. (7) ICE Futures U.S. was acquired by ICE on January 12, 2007, and ICE Futures Canada was acquired by ICE on August 27, 2007. The 2006 data is included for comparison purposes. (8) ADV % Electronic calculation applies to ICE Futures U.S. and excludes products that were not available for electronic trading at any time during the month. ICE Futures Europe is an electronic exchange. ICE Futures: Rolling Three-Month Average Rate per Contract Three Months Three Months Three Months Ending Ending Ending December November October Product Line 2007 2007 2007 ICE Futures Europe $1.27 $1.28 $1.28 Three Months Three Months Three Months Ending Ending Ending November October September 2007 2007 2007 ICE Futures U.S. (1) $2.08 $2.08 $2.07 (1) RPC for ICE Futures U.S. represents agricultural commodities only and is reported one month in arrears.
Historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at: www.theice.com/marketdata/recordsAndVolumes/volumes2007.jsp
About IntercontinentalExchange
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE) is a leading operator of global exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets. ICE offers futures and OTC markets on a single trading platform, including markets for crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions, as well as agricultural commodities and financial products such as canola, cocoa, coffee, cotton, ethanol, orange juice, wood pulp, sugar, foreign currency and equity index futures and options. ICE(R) conducts its energy futures markets, including the leading oil benchmark contracts, through its London-based exchange, ICE Futures Europe(TM). ICE conducts its global agricultural commodity, foreign exchange and equity index futures markets through its U.S. and Canadian exchanges, ICE Futures U.S.(TM) and ICE Futures Canada(TM), and offers clearing services through ICE Clear U.S.(TM) ICE's state-of-the-art electronic trading platform serves market participants in more than 55 countries. ICE is included in the Russell 1000(R) Index and the S&P 500 Index. Headquartered in Atlanta, ICE has offices in Calgary, Chicago, Dublin, Houston, London, New York, Singapore and Winnipeg. For more information, please visit www.theice.com.