NEW YORK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- NYSE Euronext said Tuesday its profit more than tripled in the first quarter this year.

    The trans-Atlantic stock exchange operator reported net income of 230 million U.S. dollars, or 87 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2008, a 162-million-dollar or 238 percent increase as compared to net income of 68 million dollars.

    The 2007 figure did not include the results of Euronext, operator of the Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels exchanges, which combined with NYSE in April 2007 to cut trading costs.

    "Our strong performance in the first quarter of 2008 highlights the growing demand for our broad array of products and services across all of our business units and the inherent operating leverage in NYSE Euronext's diverse business model," said Duncan L. Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext.

    During the first quarter, NYSE Euronext acquired the American Stock Exchange, Wombat Financial Software, and agreed to purchase a 5 percent stake in India's Multi Commodity Exchange, and entered the U.S. futures market through our acquisition of the CME Group precious metals complex.