Bursa Malaysia Registers Profit After Tax And Minority Interest (PATAMI) Of Rm92 Million For The First Half Of 2014 - Records The Second Best PATAMI Since 2010 And Distributes A Total Of 36 Sen Interim And Special Dividend

• PATAMI at RM92.0 million, down 1%
• Return on equity at 23%, improved by 2 percentage points
• Earnings per share at 17.3 sen, down 1%
• Operating revenue at RM230.6 million, up 3%
• Operating expenses at RM117.6 million, up 9%
• Cost to income ratio at 48%
• Average daily trading value for securities market’s on-market trades at RM2.1 billion, up 4%
• Market capitalisation as at 30 June 2014 at RM1.8 trillion, up 11%
• Velocity at 30%, down by 3 percentage points
• Average daily contracts traded for derivatives market at 46,966 contracts, up 8%

Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia” or “the Exchange”) distributes a total of 36 sen interim and special dividend to its shareholders for the first half year ended 30 June 2014 (“1H2014”). Bursa Malaysia’s operating revenue was up by 3 percent to RM230.6 million compared to the last corresponding period. For the 1H2014, despite a marginal decrease in the PATAMI to RM92.0 million, Bursa Malaysia recorded the second highest PATAMI for the same period since 2010. As a result, on an annualised basis, the return on equity improved from 21 percent in 1H2013 to 23 percent in 1H2014. 

Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “All three markets recorded growth as a result of higher trading participation due to our targeted outreach events and activities specifically for equities and derivatives; namely our ‘Spotlight on Malaysia’ series regionally and our annual flagship events, namely the Palm and Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition and Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur. Bursa Malaysia also launched our eCommunity platform called the BURSAMKTPLC to provide access to all, accurate and objective information about our marketplace. In June this year, we also launched our USD denominated Refined, Bleached and Deodorised (“RBD”) Palm Olein Futures contracts and hosted international gold industry experts at our first Gold and Precious Metals Price Outlook Symposium targeted at retail investors and traders.”  

For the year under review, the average daily trading value (“ADV”) for securities market’s on-market trades rose by 4 percent to RM2.1 billion as a result of higher trading participation from retail investors. Average daily contracts (“ADC”) for derivatives market grew by 8 percent to 46,966 contracts largely driven by the increase in the activities of the crude palm oil futures (“FCPO”) contracts. On the Islamic front, Bursa Suq Al-Sila (“BSAS”) recorded a 45 percent 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. Despite an increase in the operating expenses of 9 percent due to additional headcount and higher performance reward, the cost to income ratio continued to be held below 50 percent. 

Bursa Malaysia recorded a PATAMI of RM46.9 million for the second quarter of 2014 (“2Q2014”), up 4 percent compared to the preceding quarter ended 31 March 2014 (“1Q2014”) while its operating revenue at RM115.5 million was up by 0.3% compared to 1Q2014. The ADV for securities market’s on-market trades was down by 1 percent at RM2.1 billion while ADC traded for the derivatives market decreased 12 percent to 44,082 contracts. On the Islamic market front, the ADV of BSAS remained stable at RM5.1 billion. 

Dato’ Tajuddin concluded, “Our initiatives focus on building the sustainability of our marketplace, specifically in areas of engaging the young or Gen-Y. This is a vital segment we need to engage with and encourage participation in the capital market, both from a trading or investing perspective as well as in a professional capacity. On the equity side, we are targeting to launch our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) index end of this year to further improve our visibility in the regional space and be in the position to attract Socially Responsible Investments (“SRI”) funds estimated at USD3.4 trillion  globally.”

Moving forward, despite uncertainties over the economic and monetary developments in key global economies the initial public offering pipeline for Bursa Malaysia is expected to remain healthy, with a total of 10 listings by end July 2014. The strong underlying fundamentals of the Malaysian economy and economic growth prospects are also expected to cushion the effects of global economic volatility, thus sustaining the performance of Malaysia’s marketplace.

The financial results for 1H2014 are available on Bursa Malaysia’s website (www.bursamalaysia.com).