Bursa 1Q Patami down six per cent to RM38.2 million

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KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd (Bursa) registered a profit after tax and minority interest (Patami) of RM38.2 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013, a six per cent decrease as compared to the same period last year.

In a statement yesterday, the stock exchange operator said the decrease was due to salary review and adjustments undertaken as part of its efforts to be a competitive employer in attracting and retaining good talent.

For the first quarter of 2013, it registered a marginal increase in its operating revenue at RM101.7 million largely on the back of strong performance by the derivatives market.

For the period under review, the derivatives market posted a commendable performance with an increase of 43 per cent in trading revenue to RM18.4 million from RM12.9 million recorded in the same period last year.

“This was attributable to the higher open interest and contracts traded which saw the average daily contracts increase by 46 per cent, from 31,015 contracts to 45,188 contracts.

“In the securities markets, we recorded an increase of nine per cent in market capitalisation to RM1.5 trillion, but registered a 13 per cent decrease in the average daily trading value (ADV) to RM1.7 billion,” it said.

As a result of lacklustre market sentiments, the securities market registered lower trading revenue for the period under review of RM43.2 million as compared to RM50.5 million in the corresponding period last year.

“The listing and issuer services revenue also decreased by eight per cent compared with the corresponding period last year as activities on primary and secondary markets were impacted by market sentiment,” it added.

On the Islamic market front, the ADV of Bursa Suq-Al Sila (BSAS) grew by 136 per cent over the corresponding quarter last year due to the greater awareness and acceptance of BSAS amongst international institutions coupled with new trading members, it said.

Bursa said performance of the other revenue streams was satisfactory with a marginal increase as compared to the corresponding period last year.

Chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said, “overall, the outlook is expected to be marginally better this year than it was in 2012.

“This will be driven by Malaysia’s strong fundamentals and domestic demand as well as supported by catalytic initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme and Economic Transformation Programme.” — Bernama