(Adds quarterly financial information, comment from analyst)
NEW YORK, May 4 (Reuters) - Intercontinental Exchange
Inc on Thursday reported first-quarter profit slightly
above Wall Street views, as market volatility boosted the New
York Stock Exchange parent's exchange unit, helping offset a
rates-driven slump in its mortgage technology business.
Investors have been overhauling their portfolios to hedge
against risk after a slew of interest rate hikes by the U.S.
Federal Reserve and the recent banking crisis that has roiled
markets.
Revenue from ICE's exchanges segment, its biggest business,
grew 1% from a year earlier to a record $1.09 billion, while the
company's fixed income and data services segment revenue rose
11% to a record $563 million.
However, a sharp rise in interest rates have quelled demand
for mortgages, hurting ICE's mortgage technology unit, which
helps businesses originate, review and process mortgages.
Revenue from the segment dipped 23% to $236 million.
On an adjusted basis, the exchange operator reported a
profit of $1.41 per share for the quarter ended March 31, which
was a penny above the mean estimate of analysts, according to
Refinitiv data.
The main driver of the profit beat was lower-than-expected
expenses, Jefferies analyst Daniel Fannon said in a client note.
ICE's total revenue, excluding transaction-based expenses,
was $1.9 billion, down 0.2% from a year ago.
(Reporting by John McCrank in New York and Siddarth S in
Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
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