UPDATE 2-MF Global posts third straight quarterly net loss
* Q2 adj EPS $0.01 vs est $0.03
* Exchange traded volume down 21 pct
* Cleared commissions down 29 pct (Adds comments from CEO, updates share movement)
BANGALORE, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Futures and options broker MF Global Ltd (MF.N) posted its third straight quarterly net loss, hurt by weak trading volumes and lower commissions.
Net loss for the second quarter available to common shareholders was $16.0 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with net income of $3.5 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding items, the company, however, earned 1 cent a share.
Analysts expected the company to earn 3 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
"Despite weak industry volumes, narrow spreads and a near-zero interest rate environment, we delivered positive adjusted earnings by controlling our fixed costs and further diversifying our revenue streams," Chief Financial Officer Randy MacDonald said in a statement.
Cleared commissions fell 29 percent in the quarter to $262.8 million, while execution commissions fell about 26 percent to $79.6 million.
Total exchange traded volume was 395.8 million contracts, compared with 501.4 million contracts for the year-ago period.
"We are starting to see stabilization and little bit of growth in the listed world," Chief Executive Bernard Dan told Reuters.
"We are seeing signs particularly in Asia Pacific that certain client segments like retail investors participating more than they were say a year ago," Dan said.
The company, which continues to pursue opportunity to become a primary dealer, is making a push to expand its fixed income offering, he said. The company's shares were down 2 percent at $6.58 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Ratul Ray Chaudhuri)
