Profit is up at Euronext NV, Europe’s major cross-border exchange, for the first half of 2005, despite flat revenue and lower cash flow than the same period last year.

Euronext’s revenue reached 461.2 million euros in the first half this year, matching revenue for the same period of 2004. Expenses increased by only 2.9%. Year-to-date EBITA amounted to 140.1 million euros, down from 150.7 million euros in the first half of 2004. Still, net profit for the first half was up 23%, from 80 million euros in 2004 to 98.4 million euros.

The exchange also reported trading volume statistics for the first eight months of 2005. It said 103.6 million cash transactions were registered on Euronext’s cash markets in the period, up 9.7% compared with the same period last year, representing a daily average of 606,000. It also said 12.7 million transactions were completed in August 2005, up 29.3% on August last year, making it the busiest August ever.

Euronext.liffe, the international derivatives business of Euronext, traded 396.9 million futures and options contracts in the first eight months of the year, up 3% on the same period in 2004. Over the month of August, volumes on this basis were up 14% year-on-year. Average daily volume for the year-to-date was 2.3 million contracts.