KUCHING: Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s (Bursa Malaysia) saw its net profit for the he first half of 2016 (1H16) ended June 2016 increasing by three per cent y-o-y to RM99.41 million from RM96.54 million recorded in 1H15.
This comes as its second quarter 2016 (2Q16) earnings remained flat at RM49.48 million as compared with RM49.49 million recorded in 2Q15.
The stock exchange holding company in a filing yesterday said 2Q16 revenue grew marginally by 2.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM129.72 million from RM127.02 million generated in 2Q15.
Bursa Malaysia added that revenue for 1H16 gained by 3.75 per cent y-o-y to RM263.65 million versus RM254.11 million generated in 1H15.
Commenting on these results, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said, “Despite challenging market conditions our profit after tax and minority interest for 1H16 is the best first half results since 2008.
“While trading revenue in the securities market decreased marginally due to lower trading activities, the derivatives market trading revenue increased, as did the Islamic capital market’s Bursa Suq Al-Sila (BSAS) trading revenue following the adoption of the Murabaha concept and higher usage of tenor based pricing,” he said in a statement.
Additionally, Bursa Malaysia revealed that for 2Q16, the average daily trading value (ADV) for the securities market’s on-market trades (OMT) fell by 4.2 per cent to RM1.91 billion.
However, the stock exchange holding company noted the average daily contracts (ADC) for the derivatives market grew by 8.1 per cent to reach 59,790 contracts driven by growth in the volume of crude palm oil futures (FCPO) and FBM KLCI futures (FKLI) Contracts.
On the Islamic capital market front, Bursa Malaysia noted the BSAS recorded growth of 33.5 per cent in ADV to reach RM17.0 billion.
In spite of the growth, the exchange holding company observed that the ADV for the securities market’s OMT moderated to RM1.84 billion in 2Q16.
Apart from that, Bursa Malaysia noted the ADC traded for the derivatives market increased by 21.7 per cent to reach 61,611 contracts in 2Q16.
For the Islamic capital market, Bursa Malaysia revealed that the ADV of BSAS stood at RM15.4 billion, up by 13.6 per cent from 2Q15.
Tajuddin added, “Notwithstanding the challenging external environment, to-date our market integrity is intact with trading activities taking place in a fair and orderly manner, supported by adequate safeguards.
“The Exchange remains cautiously optimistic on its performance for the year, and committed in its efforts to make the Malaysian equity and derivatives markets more attractive and vibrant.
“On our part, we will continue to intensify our engagements to attract more retail and institutional participation,” Tajuddin noted.
Meanwhile, in conjunction with the 2Q16 financial results annoucement, Bursa Malaysia proposed a single-tier interim dividend of 17 sen per share with an ex-date on Aug 5 and a payment date on Aug 19.