TMX Group profit tops estimate on strength in global solutions business

(Reuters) - TMX Group, Canada's biggest stock exchange operator, reported a quarterly profit that topped expectations on Thursday, helped by strength at its derivatives trading and global solutions business.

The Toronto-based company has been working on expanding its global reach, launching campaigns to attract international listings across all sectors.

Separately, the company said that Trayport Ltd - a wholly owned subsidiary - would acquire Vienna-based VisoTech, a European short-term energy trading solutions provider.

"The addition of VisoTech to TMX Group fits squarely within our growth strategy, enabling us to augment our global energy business with new innovative products and client solutions, while continuing to increase the portion of our revenue derived from recurring sources," Chief Executive Lou Eccleston said in a statement.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019.

Last October, TMX also signed an agreement with the Shanghai Clearing House (SHCH), aimed at expanding its footprint in China's financial markets. The partnership with SHCH will help link North American and Chinese bond markets, TMX said.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned C$1.30 per share, while analysts on average expected a profit of C$1.23 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The company said net profit fell to C$61.2 million ($45.43 million), or C$1.09 per share, in the first quarter, from C$63.1 million, or C$1.13 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue in the global solutions, insights and analytics business, its biggest, rose 3 percent in the quarter to C$74.6 million.

(Reporting by Shradha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)