IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) said Tuesday its new credit derivatives clearing platform will contribute to earnings this year, news that helped send its shares soaring.

The Atlanta-based exchange operator in March was the first to clear credit default swaps on its ICE Trust platform, effectively guaranteeing the risky trades that contributed to turmoil at major U.S. financial institutions last year.

In a quarterly earnings release, ICE said the service will bring in revenue of $20 million to $30 million and expenses of $18 million to $24 million. The business is "already cash-accretive," CEO Jeff Sprecher said on a conference call with analysts.

ICE shares were up about 13% in recent trading, to $101.99, as investors welcomed the details on the CDS clearing outlook and better than expected results for the first quarter.

ICE had a "solid first quarter," Credit Suisse analyst Howard Chen said in a note. "We believe the franchise is well positioned to execute upon growth opportunities within less mature exchange-traded asset classes" such as energy and credit.

The company opened the first U.S. clearinghouse for credit derivatives earlier this year, and just last month began clearing live credit-default swaps transactions, a key step toward mitigating systemic risk in the $28 trillion market. Rival CME Group Inc. (CME) is readying its own CDS clearing and trading solution, but a launch date hasn't been set.

Sprecher said that after starting with clearing credit default swap indexes, he expects ICE will eventually move into more specialized contracts. But with credit markets still dysfunctional after the past year's turmoil, standardizing swaps so they trade like futures contracts remains far off, he said.

"People are trying to buy credit protection in the middle of a credit hurricane," he said. "It's a complicated market."

In the first quarter, ICE posted income of $72.2 million, or 98 cents a share, down from $92.3 million, or $1.29 a share, a year earlier. The latest results included $13 million in pretax charges related to its acquisition of The Clearing Corp. and other restructuring charges. Excluding items, earnings were $1.09 a share.

Revenue increased 12% to $231.6 million, driven by new products and strong volume in the futures segment.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 95 cents on revenue of $230 million.

On ICE Futures Europe, the company's energy exchange, revenue rose 31% to $64 million, thanks to record trading volume. The gains came despite choppy prices for crude and petroleum products.

Daily trading in Brent crude, an oil blend pumped from the North Sea, rose 9% in the quarter from a year ago, while gasoil futures volume rose 12%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures volume declined 17% in the quarter, even as volume in the U.S. oil benchmark on CME's New York Mercantile Exchange was roughly flat.

Sprecher resuscitated a recent oil-market debate, saying market participants tell ICE "that they're viewing Brent as the better marker for global price of crude."

Average daily commissions on ICE's U.S. over-the-counter energy market declined 16%, to $1.1 million, as natural gas prices plumbed multiyear lows.

"Over the past several months, natural gas prices have declined to levels not seen in several years. This, coupled with high storage levels, has reduced the need for hedging by some customers," said Scott Hill, ICE's chief financial officer.

-By Gregory Meyer, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4377; greg.meyer@dowjones.com