Bursa Malaysia’s earnings for 4Q14 jumped to 57 per cent y-o-y.
KUCHING: Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s (Bursa Malaysia) earnings for the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14) jumped 57 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM53.14 million compared with RM33.84 million in 4Q13.
The exchange holding company yesterday said its net profit for financial year 2014 (FY14) also went up with a gain of 15 per cent y-o-y to RM198.23 million from RM173.08 million in FY13.
At the same time, Bursa Malaysia in a filing said its turnover for FY14 increased 6.1 per cent y-o-y to RM503.76 million while revenue for 4Q14 grew 13 per cent y-o-y to RM128.48 million.
In its notes accompanying the release of the financial performance, Bursa said its profit before tax (PBT) for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4Q14) increased 44 per cent to RM69.4 million from RM48.3 million in 4Q13.
It attributed the higher PBT due to an increase of 34 per cent for the segmental profit of the securities market.
Bursa further explained that the higher profit for the securities market segment was due to higher on-market trades (OMT) compared to 4Q13 despite recorded a lower average daily value (ADV) for OMT and direct business transaction (DBT) in 4Q14.
For 4Q14, Bursa Malaysia observed a higher ADV for OMT of RM1.9 billion compared to RM1.69 billion in 4Q13 whilst it noted ADV for OMT and DBT in 4Q14 was lower compared to 4Q13 due to a single DBT of RM34 billion in 4Q13 which earned a relatively minimal fee.
Additionally, Bursa Malaysia also said its other segmental profit which include the Islamic market made up of Bursa Suq Al-Sila (BSAS) that consists of bonds trading and offshore exhange increased by 810 per cent to RM2.4 million in 4Q14 compared with RM0.3 million in 4Q13 due to higher trades on BSAS resulting from higher sukuk issuance and conversion to Murabaha deposits.
In the meantime, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan in a press statement explained that in 2014, the stock exchance initiated the retail outreach programme to engage, educate and grow the domestic retail participation, especially among the young investors.
“One of the key initiatives in this area was the launch of the BursaMarketplace, the first-of-its-kind online financial portal that provides access to accurate and objective market information.
“In addition, we had also widened our derivatives products offerings with the launch of the USD denominated Refined Bleached and Deodorised Palm Olein Futures Contract (FPOL) and the enhanced Five-Year Malaysian Government Securities Futures (FMG5).
“Finally, beyond the continuous corporate governance advocacy programmes undertaken by the exchange, we had successfully launched the Environmental, Social and Governance Index (ESG Index), making the ESG Index the first in Asia to be part of the globally benchmarked FTSE4Good Index Series,” he said.
Bursa Malaysia also proposed a final dividend of 18 sen per share, bringing the full year 2014 total dividend to 54 sen per share.
The proposed dividend will be presented to shareholders during its 38th Annual General Meeting in March 2015 for their approval.
Looking ahead for this year, Tajuddin expects 2015 to continue to be a challenging year where global markets remain volatile.
“Broadly, Malaysia will have to continue managing the impact of these external factors whilst staying on course to becoming a sustainable and developed economy by 2020.
“From a market perspective, this will also include having to face greater regional competition as well as navigate the impact of changing regulatory requirements.
“The Exchange remains cautiously optimistic as Malaysia has a proven track record for being a tenacious and resilient market arising from the strength of our investor protection and corporate governance framework that has been built over the years.
“These factors will continue to support the growth agenda in the market whilst maintaining market confidence and integrity,” he said.