The CME Group, the world’s biggest futures exchange, said on Wednesday that profits in the third quarter were up slightly from the same period last year as growth in the derivatives trade was hit by deleveraging from financial institutions damaged by the financial crisis.

Excluding extraordinary items, CME’s net income was $278m or $4.13 per share, up 3 per cent from $269m or $4 per share a year ago, on revenues of $787m, up 6 per cent from last year’s figure of $744m.