Photo by Zahid Izzani/The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 31): Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) rose 20.5% to RM60.41 million, from RM50.13 million a year ago, on the back of improved trading revenue from the securities market.

Earnings per share rose to 7.5 sen, from 6.2 sen previously, according to the bourse operator and regulator’s filing on Tuesday.

The company’s revenue rose 13.07% to RM158.71 million, from RM140.36 million previously, mainly due to a 26.2% rise in securities market trading revenue to RM70.4 million, from RM55.8 million a year ago.

The rise in the segment’s trading revenue was due to the securities market’s higher average daily trade value for on market trades and direct business trades, which increased by 28% to RM2.24 billion from RM1.75 billion previously.

Despite being offset by lower revenue from listing and issuer services and depository services, the securities market segment posted a 16.9% higher top line of RM104 million, versus RM89 million a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the data business segment also recorded a 24.3% rise in revenue to RM18.2 million, from RM14.6 million previously.

Overall top line growth was offset by declines in revenue from the company’s derivatives market and Islamic market segments.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2023 (9MFY2023), Bursa logged an 8.59% increase in net profit to RM192.83 million, from RM177.57 million for the same period last year, due to a one-off reversal of provisions.

Cumulative nine-month revenue was largely flat at RM459.8 million, versus RM457.54 million last year.

Notably, the group said revenue from the securities market segment declined a marginal 0.2%, on the back of lower trading revenue.

“The decline [in trading revenue] was due to lower average daily trading value for securities market on-market trades and direct business trades, which stood at RM2.1 billion, compared with RM2.2 billion in 9MFY2022,” it added.

Going into the final quarter, Bursa said it is optimistic about meeting its announced headline key performance indicators (KPIs) for the financial year, including profit before tax of between RM295 million and RM326 million, as well as year-on-year non-trading revenue growth of 5% to 7%.

“While the initial public offering (IPO) market capitalisation KPI has already been achieved, the exchange is expected to register 31 IPOs for the full year (Main Market: seven, ACE Market: 23; and LEAP Market: one), against the target of 39 IPOs mainly attributed by lower LEAP Market listings, as companies are assessing the LEAP Market Transfer Framework before making decisions on their listings,” it added.

At the noon break on Tuesday, shares in Bursa stood six sen or 0.91% higher at RM6.66, valuing the company at RM5.39 billion.