In terms of earnings, the company by far outstripped both the equivalent previous year period and Q1/2007, its most successful quarter to date. In the second quarter this year, sales revenue was up by 10 percent on the same period in 2006, rising to €542.5 million (Q2/2006: €491.1 million); a further €62.0 million was recorded in net interest income from banking business.

Costs for the second quarter totaled €311.9 million and included some €25 million in exceptional effects pertaining to: The highest ever participation rate of more than 50 percent of the Group's employees in the "Group Share Plan", project related expenditure such as for the ISE transaction and implementation of the new organizational structure as of 1 July 2007, as well as software write-offs. In addition, some €18 million were added to the provisions for the stock option program in the second quarter.

EBITA increased 10 percent to €321.8 million (Q2/2006: €291.4 million) and included an extraordinary profit of some 10 million from the disposal of land. Based on an average of 194.1 million outstanding shares, earnings per share increased 17 percent in the second quarter to €1.09 (Q2/2006: €0.93 per share based on 200.1 million shares).

With two record quarters in 2007, Deutsche Börse also recorded a new record half year. In the first six months, sales revenue was up by 14 percent to €1,085.6 million (H1/2006: €955.8 million), a further €108.1 million was recorded in net interest income from banking business (H1/2006: €72.1 million), and EBITA climbed 13 percent to €622.1 million (H1/2006: €548.4 million). Earnings per share jumped 19 percent to €2.07 (H1/2006: €1.74).

Deutsche Börse CFO Thomas Eichelmann said: "We have achieved these record results against the background of strong double digit growth across all business areas in the first half of 2007 and despite higher than budgeted costs. Costs in the first half of this year included exceptional items totaling some €43 million and higher than anticipated provisions for the stock option program in light of a 57 percent increase in our share price over the last four quarters. We do not regard these cost items a permanent addition to our cost base and will focus on strict cost discipline when setting our budget for 2008."

Segment Reporting

Sales revenue in the Xetra segment rose by 25 percent to €105.5 million in the second quarter (Q2/2006: €84.7 million); segment results include the joint venture with SWX in the area of structured products, launched on 1 January 2007. The increase in sales revenue is largely due to the increased trading activity on the Xetra trading platform. The number of transactions on Xetra increased by 41 percent to 40.5 million (Q2/2006: 28.8 million transactions). EBITA climbed 18 percent to €62.0 million (Q2/2006: €52.7 million).

Sales revenue in the Eurex segment amounted to €179.3 million in the second quarter - a year-on-year increase of 7 percent (Q2/2006: €168.3 million). This growth is primarily a result of the 12 percent climb in contract volume. Equity and index derivatives contributed 61 percent of the total contract volume in Q2, while 39 percent was attributable to interest rate derivatives. EBITA was negatively impacted by an adjustment to the equity method-accounted investment in U.S. Futures Exchange of €6.3 million and therefore decreased 1 percent to €106.7 million (Q2/2006: €108.0).

Sales revenue in the Clearstream segment (excluding net interest income from banking business) increased by 8 percent to €191.0 million (Q2/2006: €177.1 million). The main drivers were increased custody and settlement volumes. A further €62.0 million was recorded in net interest income from banking business (Q2/2006: €37.8 million). This strong increase in net interest income is due to exceptional levels of customer cash in the second quarter, growth in settlement volumes and an increase in short-term interest rates in Europe. Custody volume rose by 16 percent year-on-year to €10.5 trillion (Q2/2006: €9.0 trillion), settlement instructions increased by 14 percent to 18.9 million instructions (Q2/2006: 16.6 million instructions). EBITA in this segment rose by 20 percent in the second quarter to €105.4 million (Q2/2006: €88.0 million).

Market Data & Analytics also showed positive sales revenue development, recording an increase of 6 percent to €40.7 million (Q2/2006: €38.4 million). The increase was driven, in particular, by newly acquired users of price and trading data on the cash and derivatives markets, as well as by growth in the Group's index products. The segment increased its EBITA by 2 percent to €18.6 million (Q2/2006: €18.2 million).

Sales revenue in the Information Technology segment amounted to €26.0 million in the second quarter (Q2/2006: €22.6 million). This increase is largely a result of the higher volume of orders with existing clients, as well as to the fact that the segment gained some new clients beginning of the year 2007. EBITA in this segment decreased year-on-year to €25.7 million (Q2/2006: €27.9 million).