TMX Group second-quarter profit tops market expectations

(Reuters) - TMX Group <X.TO>, Canada's biggest stock exchange operator, posted quarterly adjusted profit on Wednesday that topped market expectations, as it reined in operating expenses and benefited from strength in its global solutions business.

Excluding items, net income rose to C$81.8 million ($61.50 million), or C$1.45 per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, beating analysts' average estimate of C$1.33 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

The company, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, also said second-quarter earnings dipped to C$77.2 million, or C$1.37 a share, from C$95.6 million, or C$1.71 per share, a year earlier when it recorded a C$26.8 million gain on the sale of its interest in FTSE TMX Global Debt Capital Markets Ltd.

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

Revenue in the global solutions, insights and analytics business, its biggest, rose about 7% in the quarter to C$75.6 million.

Operating expenses fell 11.3% to C$106.2 million, as it recorded lower severance costs.

Revenue in the quarter rose to C$210.3 million, topping analysts' expectations of C$203.5 million.

(Reporting by Arunima Kumar and Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; editing by Sandra Maler and G Crosse)