Euronext helped by volatile markets

EURONEXT, the European exchange widely tipped to bid for the London Stock Exchange, saw revenues for the second quarter of the year jump 9.6% as extreme market volatility fuelled trading volumes.

Total revenues were e248m (£158m) against e226m in the second quarter a year ago during a period fuelled by income from the London-based Liffe exchange. But as collapsing share prices killed off nearly all appetite for flotations, listing fees tumbled more than 10% to e9.8m.

Derivatives trading was the biggest growth area, with volumes 20.3% ahead on the year and revenues up 12.3%. Chairman Jean-François Theodore has high hopes for its new US dollar swaps futures market, which pitches Euronext head-to-head with the Chicago Board of Trade.

Liffe recently launched a futures market in German government bonds in direct competition with German rival Eurex. The move came four years after London lost out to Eurex in its battle to keep the futures.