Nasdaq second-quarter profit nearly doubles

NEW YORK: Nasdaq OMX Group's second-quarter earnings have nearly doubled from a year earlier, before Nasdaq combined with Sweden's OMX stock exchange.

The New York-based exchange operator reported Wednesday its second-quarter earnings rose to $101.6 million, or 48 cents per share, from $56.1 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier - had the two companies been combined.

Profits excluding merger costs and benefits from foreign currency contracts have risen to $101.8 million, or 48 cents a share, from $77.2 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier.]

Wall Street expected the company would earn 43 cents a share, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Analyst predictions typically exclude one-time items.