Instinet, the electronic broking group being bought by Nasdaq for $1.8bn (€1.4bn), saw net income slump 36% in the first quarter of this year as transaction fees plunged.

These dropped from $241.3m in the three months ending March 31 to $196.6m sending group profits down from $21.8m to $13.9m. Group revenues over the same period dropped from $358.9m to $316.2m.