TD Ameritrade takes 2Q fall

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. posted an 18% drop in second-quarter net income today, one year after the company recorded its largest one-time gain. The Omaha, Neb.-based brokerage posted net income of $141.1 million, or 23 cents per share, down from $172.8 million, or 30 cents per share in the quarter ended March 31. The loss in this quarter was attributed to a one-time gain from the firm’s investment in Knight Capital, which would have produced profit in the year-ago period of 22 cents per share. Revenues for the quarter increased 5.5% to $524.8 million, compared to $497.2 million during the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected revenue of $533.86 million and earnings of 24 cents per share on average during the quarter. TD Ameritrade handled 253,631 trades per day in 6.23 million accounts during the quarter, compared to 254,382 trades in 6.07 million accounts in the second quarter of 2006. During the quarter TD Ameritrade spent about $50 million to repurchase three million shares of stock. Client assets increased 7% to a record $282.2 million, from $262.9 million during the year-ago period. TD Ameritrade was formed last year when Ameritrade Holding bought TD Waterhouse USA from Toronto-Dominion Bank.