Bursa Malaysia 1Q14 net profit up 18 per cent

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KUCHING: Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s (Bursa Malaysia) net profit for the first quarter of 2014 (1Q14) jumped 18 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM45.15 million compared with RM38.2 million in 1Q13.

At the same time, the exchange holding company in a statement said its turnover for 1Q14 also increased 12 per cent y-o-y to RM123 million against RM110 million in 1Q13.

On a quarterly basis, Bursa Malaysia’s earnings also grew 33 per cent to RM45.15 million in 1Q14 compared with RM33.84 million in 4Q13 while revenue went up eight per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM123 million in 1Q14 against RM114 million in 4Q13.

Bursa Malaysia’s chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan commented, “Over the past three years, our operating revenue has continued its upward path.

“We have spent the last three years strengthening our foundations to position us for future growth and our efforts will continue well into this year.

“Among our key milestones to date is the revamp of participantship structure in which we have created a single trading right to encourage greater participation from the broader market.

“This move would enable trading participants to trade all categories of products on the derivatives market,” he said.

Tajuddin added that Bursa Malaysia’s operating revenue was up by 13 per cent to RM115.1 million in 1Q14 boosted by double digit growth in trades from the securities and derivatives market.

For the year under review, he observed that the securities market’s average daily trading value (ADV) grew by 26 per cent to RM2.16 billion as a result of higher trading participation from retail investors due to the company’s targeted outreach activities and continued support by domestic institutions.

He noted that the derivatives market’s average daily contracts (ADC) grew by 11 per cent to 50,046 contracts largely driven by the increase in the activities of the crude palm oil futures (FCPO) contracts.

He highlighted that the FCPO contracts hit a new high on March 12, 2014 with 71,678 contracts traded on the back of higher volatility in crude palm oil (CPO) prices.

Meanwhile, Tajuddin noted that from the Islamic market perspective, its commodity trading platform, Bursa Suq Al-Sila (BSAS) recorded a 40 per cent increase in its ADV to RM5.1 billion on the back of higher domestic and foreign participation due to the consistent engagement and outreach activities undertaken by the company.

He revealed that the ADV for securities market’s on-market trades was up by 23 per cent to RM2.1 billion while ADC traded for the derivatives market increased 20 per cent to 50,046 contracts.

On the Islamic market front, he said the ADV of BSAS increased by nine per cent to RM5.1 billion.

Looking ahead, Tajuddin said, “Moving into the new quarter, Bursa Malaysia will unveil several initiatives as part of our efforts to engage younger Malaysians between the ages of 25 to 35.

“In the pipeline is the launch of our e-initiative, a digital and inclusive platform to grow retail participation through the offering of accurate and objective information.

“We are also working towards initiating the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index to improve our visibility in the regional space,” he pointed out in conjunction with the release of its 1Q14 financial results yesterday.