Bursa Malaysia Berhad (Bursa Malaysia) today reported an improvement of 52% in its third quarter net profit amounting to RM30.8 million, compared to RM20.2 million profit recorded for the same corresponding quarter in 2008. Operating revenue improved by 19% to RM79.1 million in the period under review compared to RM66.6 million in the previous corresponding quarter. For the nine-month period ended 30 September 2009, Bursa Malaysia recorded a net profit of RM81.3 million - an 11% decline compared to the net profit of RM90.9 million for the corresponding period last year.
Bursa Malaysia’s Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said, “We are pleased with our solid quarter-by-quarter results and we are confident that the Exchange is well-positioned for growth over the medium-to-long term. The positive third quarter results were driven by buoyant securities market and steady interest in our key derivatives products, namely the crude palm oil futures (FCPO) contracts. While the outlook continues to be challenging, we are optimistic that the Exchange’s performance for the final quarter will remain positive, judging from the improved investor interest that we are seeing of late.”
Dato’ Yusli added, “The steady performance is also borne out by our many efforts that will make our market more accessible and globally competitive. We have been on track in launching key initiatives such as the multicurrency securities platform, transition of our benchmark KLCI index to FTSE’s methodology, market making framework for structured warrants and ETFs, and the reduction of tick size, among others, which were efforts that are aimed to help spur more investor and issuer interest in the market.”
The performance for the securities market mirrored the steady investor sentiment as observed in the third quarter ended 30 September 2009. The daily average trading value for the securities market (on-market and direct business) increased to RM1.38 billion in the third quarter of 2009 compared to RM890 million in the same corresponding period. Velocity for the period under review also improved to 36% in comparison to 25% for the third quarter of 2008. Consequently, trading revenue for the securities market significantly increased by 46% to RM38 million as compared to RM26.1 million for the third quarter of 2008.
The derivatives market experienced only a marginal decrease in terms of the number of contracts traded. Total contracts traded dropped by 5% to 1.51 million in the third quarter of this year versus 1.59 million in the same period last year. The trading revenue for the derivatives market decreased by 18% to RM9.2 million from RM11.3 million in the corresponding period in 2008. Nonetheless, bullish sentiments surrounded the CPO futures market as contracts increased by 21% to 1.03 million contracts in the third quarter of 2009, from 850,000 contracts in the corresponding quarter in 2008.
Dato’ Yusli said that overall, the Exchange managed to adhere well to the prioritising exercise that it undertook at the beginning of the year, given the market conditions at that time, to cut down on its capital and operational budgeted expenditure by 15%. The bourse’s total expenses dropped by 10% to RM42.3 million in the period under review. He added that Bursa Malaysia will continue to be cost-conscious and aim to achieve the set target before the end of the year.
The presentation of the financial results for the third quarter and nine months period ended 30 September 2009 is also available on Bursa Malaysia’s website (www.bursamalaysia.com).
Financial Results | 3 MONTHS ENDED | 9 MONTHS ENDED | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
30.09.2009 | 30.09.2008 | 30.09.2009 | 30.09.2008 | |
RM 'mil | RM 'mil | RM 'mil | RM 'mil | |
Operating revenue | 79.1 | 66.6 | 220.3 | 235.2 |
Other income | 7.2 | 7.0 | 24.7 | 25.4 |
Total revenue | 86.3 | 73.6 | 245.0 | 260.6 |
Staff costs | (20.5) | (21.7) | (60.0) | (64.8) |
Depreciation and amortisation | (9.1) | (5.0) | (27.4) | (14.3) |
Other operating expenses | (12.8) | (20.6) | (43.2) | (58.5) |
Profit from operations | 43.9 | 26.3 | 114.4 | 123.0 |
Finance costs | (0.1) | (0.1) | (0.5) | (0.5) |
Profit before tax | 43.8 | 26.2 | 113.9 | 122.5 |
Income tax expense | (13.0) | (6.0) | (32.6) | (31.6) |
Net profit for the period | 30.8 | 20.2 | 81.3 | 90.9 |