Profits for New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) member firms dropped in the second quarter, the exchange reports, although they were in line with the same quarter last year.

The NYSE reports that firms that conduct business with the public reported a second quarter after-tax profit of US$2.2 billion, which is down from US$4.3 billion in the previous quarter, but up slightly from US$2.1 billion in the same quarter in 2012.

Total revenues for the quarter came in at approximately US$39.5 billion, which is also down from the previous quarter when revenues were US$43.4 billion. But, again, that’s up from the second quarter last year when revenues were US$37.7 billion.

For the first half of 2013, profits are down slightly to US$6.6 billion from US$6.8 billion in 2012, although revenues for the period are up year over year, to US$82.9 billion this year compared with US$79.1 billion last year.

The number of profitable firms in the first half is also up to 114 this year from 105 last year, despite the fact that the total number of firms is down from 170 last year to 166 this year.

Reported revenues include firms that trade primarily for their own account, but excludes designated market makers. Revenues are predominantly derived from investment banking, trading, commissions, and interest.