Nasdaq, the US exchange, experienced an 87.8% fall in net income in the first quarter of 2003 compared with the same period last year due to decreases in trading volumes and the number of initial public offerings, and increased competition in electronic trading.

Net income for the US exchange was $2.6m (€2.3m) for the first three months of this year, up $2.3m compared with the fourth quarter of 2002, but down 87.8% from $21.3m in the first quarter of 2002.