Owner of Toronto Stock Exchange returns to profitability after restructuring loss

TORONTO – TMX Group Ltd. (TSX:X) returned to profitability last year as it saw benefits from a costly streamlining effort that began in 2015.

The operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange and several other securities markets says the improvement was a result of higher revenue, a smaller restructuring expense as well as cost reductions that exceeded the company’s target.

TMX Group reported a profit attributable to shareholders of $196.4 million or $3.58 per diluted share for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2016. That compared with a full-year loss of $52.3 million or 96 cents per diluted share in 2015, mostly because of asset writedowns recorded in the fourth quarter of that year.

Revenue was a record $742.0 million in 2016, up three per cent from $717 million in 2015.

In the fourth quarter, TMX earned a profit attributable to shareholders of $52.6 million or 95 cents per diluted share, compared with the year-earlier loss of $159.0 million or $2.92 per diluted share. Revenue in the fourth quarter totalled $189.4 million,up seven per cent from $177.1 million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, TMX earned $1.18 per diluted share in the fourth quarter in 2016 compared with an adjusted profit of 87 cents per diluted share a year earlier.