Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., the all- electronic exchange that handles the most shares in the U.S., said second-quarter profit rose 81 percent on increased trading and the purchase of Sweden's OMX AB.

Net income climbed to $101.6 million, or 48 cents a share, from $56.1 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, the New York- based company said today in a statement. Nasdaq was expected to earn 43 cents, according to the average estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld promised the $4.9 billion OMX deal would fuel profit growth as the combined company expands in Europe and cuts costs by sharing technology across different markets. While operating expenses increased from the first quarter, Greifeld said today that the company will reach its goal of cutting $100 million of annual costs by March 2009, at least six months sooner than previously projected.

``It looks like merger synergies from OMX, which are the major focus this year, are materializing faster than we had estimated,'' Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. analyst Roger freeman, who has an ``overweight'' rating on the stock, said in a report to clients today.

Nasdaq OMX advanced $1.39, or 5.3 percent, to $27.81 at 9:31 a.m. in New York trading. The stock declined 47 percent this year through yesterday, about even with the 48 percent drop in the FTSE/Mondo Visione Index that tracks 19 publicly traded exchanges.

OMX Results

The results are the first full quarter to include business from OMX, which runs bourses in seven European cities including Helsinki and Copenhagen. The Stockholm-based company also provides technology used for trading and clearing services to more than 60 clients in 50 countries.

Nasdaq is integrating businesses that stretch from New York to Riga. Last month's $652 million purchase of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, also known as Phlx, will start boosting profit this year, instead of in 2009 as originally announced, the company said.

``We hit the ground running,'' Greifeld, 51, said in an interview. ``In the second quarter we didn't receive the benefit of the actions that we've taken to further reduce the cost base.''

Total revenue increased 47 percent to $821.5 million from the same period a year earlier. Operating expenses totaled $225.4 million, up from $216.1 million in the first quarter if the OMX deal had been completed at the beginning of the year.

Fees, Listings

Transaction fees and revenue from the sale of market data totaled $694.1 million as Nasdaq gained business in the U.S. from rivals. Listings contributed $87.6 million, while OMX's trading- software business generated $38.1 million.

In the U.S., Nasdaq matched a daily average of 2.13 billion shares a day during the second quarter, up 32 percent from a year earlier, according to data on its Web site. Rival NYSE Euronext, which owns both the New York Stock Exchange and Arca electronic market, matched an average of 2.58 billion shares a day during the quarter, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

Transaction fees were also bolstered by Nasdaq's entry into the derivatives-trading business, handling in its first three months 0.63 percent of the contracts that change hands in the $1.3 trillion U.S. market. With the Philadelphia exchange, Nasdaq's market share will exceed 15 percent, making it the third-largest options market in the U.S., according to Chicago- based Options Clearing Corp.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edgar Ortega in New York at ebarrales@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 6, 2008 09:36 EDT