Interactive Brokers Group Announces 1Q2014 Results

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ GS: IBKR) an automated global electronic broker and market maker, today reported diluted earnings per share on a comprehensive basis of $0.35 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, compared to diluted earnings per share on a comprehensive basis of $0.06 for the same period in 2013.

On a non-comprehensive basis, which excludes the effect of changes in the U.S. dollar value of the Company’s non-U.S. subsidiaries, the Company reported diluted earnings per share on net income of $0.34 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.14 for the same period in 2013.

Net revenues were $355 million and income before income taxes was $218 million for this quarter, compared to net revenues of $216 million and income before income taxes of $82 million for the same period in 2013.

The Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per share. This dividend is payable on June 13, 2014 to shareholders of record as of May 30, 2014.

Business Highlights

• 61% pretax profit margin for this quarter, up from 38% in the year-ago quarter and 42% average for prior year.
• 60% Electronic Brokerage pretax profit margin for this quarter.
• Customer equity grew 38% from the year-ago quarter to $49.0 billion and customer debits increased by 30%, to $14.4 billion.
• Customer accounts grew 16% from the year-ago quarter to 252 thousand.
• Total DARTs increased 25% from the year-ago quarter to 582 thousand.
• Brokerage segment equity was $2.5 billion. Total equity was $5.2 billion.

Segment Overview

Electronic Brokerage

Electronic Brokerage segment income before income taxes increased 21%, to $134 million, in the quarter ended March 31, 2014 compared to the same period last year. Commissions and execution fees increased 14% from the year-ago quarter, reflecting growth in customer accounts and higher average trading activity per customer. Net interest income grew 23% from the year-ago quarter, to $66 million in this quarter. Pretax profit margin was 60% for this quarter, up from 57% in the same period last year.

Total DARTs(1) for cleared and execution-only customers increased 25% to 582,000 from the year-ago quarter. Cleared DARTs were 527,000 in this quarter, 25% higher than the same period last year.

Customer accounts grew 16% to 252,000 from the year-ago quarter. Customer equity increased 38%, to $49.0 billion, from the year-ago quarter. The size of an average customer account continued to grow to $195 thousand in equity per cleared customer account at the end of this quarter.

Customer margin borrowings were $3.3 billion higher than at the same time last year, ending the quarter at $14.4 billion.

Market Making

Market Making segment income before income taxes increased to $88 million, for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 from $29 million loss for the same period in 2013. Removing the effects of currency translation, the Market Making segment produced $67 million pretax income in this quarter, compared to $32 million for the same period last year. Increase in profit was driven by higher volatility as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a higher actual to implied volatility ratio and higher trading volumes.

Currency translation gain was $21 million in this quarter, compared to a $61 million loss in the year-ago quarter.

Effects of Foreign Currency Diversification

In connection with our currency strategy, we have determined to base our net worth in GLOBALs, a basket of 16 major currencies in which we hold our equity. In this quarter, our currency diversification program increased our comprehensive earnings by $24 million, as the U.S. dollar value of the GLOBAL increased by approximately 0.4%. The effects of currency diversification are reported as components of (1) Market Making Trading Gains and (2) Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”). In this quarter 85% of the GLOBAL effect was captured in Market Making Trading Gains in the Net Income section of the Statement of Comprehensive Income, with the remainder reported as OCI in the separate Comprehensive Income section of the Statement of Comprehensive Income.

(1) Daily average revenue trades (DARTs) are based on customer orders.

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Conference Call Information:

Interactive Brokers Group will hold a conference call with investors today, April 15, 2014, at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss its quarterly results. Investors who would like to listen to the conference call live should dial 877-324-1965 (U.S. domestic) and 631-291-4512 (international). The number should be dialed approximately ten minutes prior to the start of the conference call. Ask for the “Interactive Brokers Conference Call.”

The conference call will also be accessible simultaneously, and through replays, as an audio webcast through the Investor Relations section of the Interactive Brokers web site, www.interactivebrokers.com/ir.

About Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.:

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is an automated global electronic broker that specializes in catering to financial professionals by offering state-of-the-art trading technology, superior execution capabilities, worldwide electronic access, and sophisticated risk management tools at exceptionally low costs. The brokerage trading platform utilizes the same innovative technology as the Company’s market making business, which specializes in routing orders and executing and processing trades in securities, futures, foreign exchange instruments, bonds and funds on more than 100 electronic exchanges and trading venues around the world. As a market maker, we provide liquidity at these marketplaces and, as a broker, we provide professional traders and investors with electronic access to stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds and mutual funds from a single IB Universal AccountSM. Employing proprietary software on a global communications network, Interactive Brokers is continuously integrating its software with a growing number of exchanges and trading venues into one automatically functioning, computerized platform that requires minimal human intervention.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

The foregoing information contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the company's current views with respect to certain current and future events and financial performance. These forward-looking statements are and will be, as the case may be, subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to the company's operations and business environment which may cause the company's actual results to be materially different from any future results, expressed or implied, in these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to the company on the date of this release. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any statements expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additional information on risk factors that could potentially affect the company's financial results may be found in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.