KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia posted a net profit of RM49.94mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2016, up 6.1% from a year ago, on the back of higher operating revenue.
Revenue for the quarter was 5.4% higher to RM133.93mil from RM127.09mil in the previous year. Bursa’s annualised return on equity (RoE) was stable at 26%, while cost-to-income ratio stood at 47% during the period.
“Despite challenging market conditions and ongoing global volatility, growth in first quarter results remain positive. 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 wider acceptance of tenor based pricing,” said chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan in a statement on Monday.
During the quarter, the average daily trading value (ADV) for Securities Market’s on-market trades (OMT) fell 4.8% to RM1.98bil due to lower trading activities. The average daily contracts (ADC) for Derivatives Market fell 4.1% to 57,878 contracts, though there was an increase in FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index futures (FKLI) contracts by 23.8% to 13,105 contracts.
Meanwhile, on the Islamic Capital Market front, BSAS recorded a 57.7% increase in its ADV to RM18.7bil with continuous growth from both domestic and foreign participation. Operating expenses, meanwhile, increased 5.1% to RM63.3mil.
On a quarterly basis, Bursa’s net profit was 1.3% lower against the previous quarter. The ADV for Securities Market’s OMT was down 3% from RM2bil in 4Q15, while ADC traded in the Derivatives Market increased by 3.4% from 55,985 contracts in 4Q15.
On the Islamic Capital Market front, the ADV of BSAS fell 1.5% from RM19bi in 4Q15.
Tajuddin said despite continued market volatility, macroeconomic indicators such as a recovery in oil prices and the value of the ringgit, combined with capital market indicators such as foreign inflows and FBM KLCI resistance levels at 1,700, point towards a resilient market environment.
“The integrity of the market is intact, with markets remaining fair and orderly, while the financial stability of our market participants and intermediaries are at healthy levels. Notwithstanding the current volatility, I still believe our market is sustainable at the core, and I remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook for the rest of 2016. On our part, we will continue to monitor the state of the market and intensify our engagements to attract more retail and institutional participation,” he said.
