New York Stock Exchange member firms that do business with the public earned $1.13 billion after taxes in the second quarter, unchanged from the year-earlier quarter, according to a news release from the exchange. Second-quarter revenues jumped to $53.32 billion from $36.07 billion a year earlier, but expenses also surged, reaching $51.58 billion from $34.33 billion.
For the first six months of 2005, the firms reported after-tax profits of $2.83 billion on revenues of $102.54 billion, compared with profits of $4.43 billion on revenues of $75.49 billion in the first six months of 2004.
Big Board specialists earned $33 million after taxes in the second quarter, up from $25 million a year ago. Revenues in the period slipped to $220 million from $222 million. For the first half of the year, specialists earned $76 million after taxes on revenues of $447 million, compared with profits of $15 million on revenues of $474 million in the first six months of last year.