Euronext, the pan-European exchange, has posted a 7.5% decrease in net profit for the first quarter of 2003 compared with the same period last year, outperforming analysts' expectations.

A one-off gain from the sale of 20% of Clearnet's shares and the company's Dutch settlement activities to Euroclear, the European clearing and settlement business, had bumped up earnings by €90.5m ($106.6m) in the first quarter of 2002. This resulted in a fall in net profit from €126.5m in the first quarter of 2002 to €32.3m this year, but with the omission of the Clearnet gain net profit was down just 7.5% year-on-year.