SGX Posts 16-Per cent Rise in 3QFY2012 Bottomline, Sees More Listing this Year

Singapore Exchange (SGX), Asia’s third-biggest listed bourse, reported Tuesday a 16-per cent jump in quarterly profit, thanks to higher turnover from derivatives which partly made up for a drop in securities income.

SGX reported January-March net profit of S$77.8 million, higher than the S$67.0 million a year earlier when profit was partly hit by costs linked to its failed bid for Australian exchange operator ASX.

Revenue for the period declined 3 per cent year-on-year to S$163.6 million, dragged by the lower turnover from securities which declined 12 per cent year-on-year to S$65.0 million. Derivatives revenue, however, grew 10 per cent to S$42.5 million from S$38.8 million a year ago.

“Our efforts to grow our non-securities businesses continue to bear fruit. SGX is on track to be the first Asian exchange to launch hubs in Chicago and London to conveniently and cost-effectively connect global investors to SGX markets. These hubs will be available along with exchange-hosted pre trade risk controls for the derivatives market,” said SGX CEO Magnus Bocker.

Going forward, Bocker said SGX will benefit from a growing interest among international companies to list in Singapore. While he did not name companies, motor racing business Formula One and a unit of India’s Reliance Communications are reportedly among firms planning listings on the Singapore bourse.

“Market volumes will continue to be primarily driven by global economic forces. We see growing interest from Singapore and international companies to seek a listing on SGX. We will continue to grow our customer base and product offerings, and pace investments in line with opportunities,” Bocker added.

Recently, SGX made initiatives to hasten market listing in Singapore. Among others, the group joined the Monetary Authority of Singapore in signing a Memorandum of Understanding on the Expedited Review Framework for Secondary Listings. This initiative, which is part of the ASEAN Capital Market Framework, will shorten the time to market for secondary listing of ASEAN companies.

SGX shares on Tuesday closed higher at S$6.72 each from Monday’s S$6.70.

The bourse’s stock has risen about 9.6 per cent so far in 2012, beating ASX’s gains of nearly 5 per cent and Hong Kong’s HKEx’s rise of 4.4 per cent.

Singapore’s benchmark STI index has advanced about 13 per cent so far this year.