Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE)

[rayrohn]

ICE Reports Record Monthly Futures Volume on 82% Rise in February; 73% Increase in OTC Commissions
Friday March 3, 8:30 am ET


ATLANTA, March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE - News), the leading electronic energy marketplace, today reported its second consecutive month of record volume in its futures business segment and an increase of 73.2% in trading commissions in its over-the-counter (OTC) business segment for the month of February. Volume at ICE Futures, the company's futures business segment, increased 81.8% over last February.

Fueling the growth again were the entry of new participants into ICE's electronic markets and expanded levels of trading in futures and OTC markets by existing customers.

ICE also reported solid volume in the newest product at ICE Futures, with average daily volume in the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract of 41,858 from the February 3 launch through the end of the month. Excluding trading on President's Day, a U.S. holiday during which the ICE Futures markets were open for trading, average daily volume was 43,955 contracts. On two occasions since the launch of the product, daily volume exceeded 58,000 contracts. The contract has recorded the strongest start of any new product in ICE Futures' history. Open interest in the ICE WTI Crude Futures contract on February 28 stood at 71,603.

OTC Business Segment

In ICE's OTC business segment, average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in the company's OTC markets. In February 2006, ICE's average daily commissions increased to $421,205, up 73.2% compared to $243,231 in February 2005. Growth in average daily commissions was driven primarily by the continued expansion of ICE's cleared OTC product volumes, particularly in natural gas and power. On February 3, 2006, ICE transitioned its cleared OTC WTI crude oil bullet swap contract into the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract.


OTC Segment: February Average Daily Commissions

Feb. 2006 Feb. 2005 % Change
ICE OTC Average
Daily Commissions $421,205 $243,231 73.2%

Futures Business Segment
At ICE Futures, the company's futures business segment, average daily volume (ADV) in February 2006 increased 81.8% to 255,396 contracts compared to 140,493 contracts in February 2005. Total monthly futures volume also rose 81.8% to a record 5,107,913 contracts in February 2006, compared to monthly volume of 2,809,863 in February 2005. February was the second consecutive month of an ICE Futures volume record, exceeding by 7.4% the January 2006 monthly volume record of 4,754,400 contracts.

The month included a record volume day at ICE Futures on February 7, with 364,064 contracts changing hands, which is 21.5% higher than the previous record day achieved in January 2006, and the first time that ICE Futures volume exceeded 300,000 contracts in a single day. The record day included 45,962 contracts traded in the new ICE WTI Crude futures contract. Excluding the ICE WTI Crude futures contract volume on the record day, volume was 318,102 contracts, which exceeded the prior record by 6.2%. Volume subsequently exceeded the 300,000 level three more times in February.

At February 28, 2006, total open interest in ICE Futures contracts stood at 761,098 contracts, with open interest in the IPE Brent Crude futures contract at 399,238. This compares to total open interest of 565,734 contracts and IPE Brent Crude futures open interest of 351,673 at February 28, 2005.


Futures Segment: February Volume Statistics



Contract ADV ADV ADV Total Total Volume
Feb. Feb. % Volume Volume %
2006 2005 Change Feb. 2006 Feb. 2005 Change
IPE Brent Crude
futures 153,018 99,347 54.0% 3,060,351 1,986,936 54.0%
IPE Gas Oil
futures 60,944 38,443 58.5% 1,218,886 768,861 58.5%
ICE WTI Crude
futures 37,672** n/a n/a 753,441 n/a n/a
Other contracts* 3,762 2,703 39.2% 75,235 54,066 39.2%
Total ICE
Futures 255,396 140,493 81.8% 5,107,913 2,809,863 81.8%

* "Other contracts" include IPE Natural Gas Futures, ECX CFI Futures, IPE
Electricity futures and IPE Brent Options and IPE Gas Oil Options. The
ECX CFI Futures contract is the result of a cooperative relationship
between ICE Futures and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its
subsidiary, the European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures shares in the
revenue derived from the ECX CFI Futures contract.

** The ICE WTI Crude futures contract began trading on February 3, 2006.
The ADV for ICE WTI Crude futures in the above table includes two
trading days (February 1 and 2) when the ICE WTI Crude futures contract
was not yet available for trading. The ICE WTI Crude futures contract
ADV since the launch date of February 3 is 41,858.

Additional February Highlights:
- IPE Gas Oil futures traded at ICE Futures achieved a new open interest
record on February 3 of 240,586 contracts.
- A fee waiver on execution will be in place for the ICE WTI Crude futures
contract from launch through March 31, 2006.
- ICE in February announced plans to introduce more than 50 additional
cleared contracts in its OTC markets during the first half of 2006, with
the first ten natural gas contracts available for trading beginning
today, March 3.

Additional historical futures volume and OTC commission data can be found at: https://www.theice.com/marketdata/recordsAndVolumes/volumes2006.jsp

About IntercontinentalExchange

IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE - News) operates the leading electronic global futures and OTC marketplace for trading energy commodity contracts, including crude oil and refined products, natural gas, power and emissions. ICE conducts its markets for futures trading through its regulated subsidiary, ICE Futures, Europe's leading energy futures and options exchange. ICE also offers a range of risk management and trading support services, including cleared OTC contracts, electronic trade confirmations and energy market data. ICE's common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on November 16, 2005. ICE is based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Calgary, Chicago, Houston, London, New York and Singapore. For more information, please visit http://www.theice.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Statements in this press release regarding IntercontinentalExchange's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Reg. No. 333-123500), as amended, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.




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Source: IntercontinentalExchange