SGX Posts Higher Quarterly Profit on Securities, Derivatives Growth

The Singapore Exchange posted a 16.7 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended December, thanks to higher securities and derivatives trading.

Net profit for 2QFY2013 went up to S$76.3 million from S$65.4 million the previous year. Revenue rose 9.2 per cent to S$161.8 million from S$148.1 million.

“Our Securities market continued to hold up from the first quarter and daily traded value increased 8 per cent year-on-year. Our Derivatives market achieved a record quarter with daily average traded volume of 358,532 contracts, following record volumes in our China A50 futures and Japan Nikkei 225 options. Open Interest on our Derivatives market hit a new high, reflecting SGX’s attractiveness as a centre for risk management,” said Magnus Bocker, SGX CEO.

The market operator’s securities daily average traded value (SDAV) for the quarter was S$1.2 billion, up 8 per cent year-on-year from S$1.1 billion. Derivatives daily average volume (DDAV) for the quarter was a record 358,532 contracts, up 30 per cent from a year ago’s 274,757 contracts.

Also, during the quarter, there were eight new IPOs in SGX, raising S$798.9 million; while secondary fund raising totalled S$1.3 billion.

As at December 31, total stock market capitalisation increased 20 per cent to S$934.5 billion.

Going forward, SGX expects improved sentiments across capital markets globally which can lead to increased volumes.

“We are well positioned to benefit if these sentiments continue. Our IPO and bond listings pipelines remain healthy. We will continue to invest our resources in developing new products and services, and strengthening our regulatory and risk management capabilities,” the company said.

SGX said it has deployed adequate capital in its two clearing houses, namely Central Depository (CDP) and Singapore Exchange Derivatives Clearing (SGX-DC) to meet all obligations as Central Counterparties (CCP).

And to maintain continuity in its global Derivatives activities, SGX added that it is seeking recognition from organisations in US and Europe.

“We are seeking formal recognition from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for both our derivatives exchange (SGX-DT) and clearing house (SGX-DC). We will similarly be seeking recognition from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in the second half of FY2013,” it noted.

For FY2013, SGX said it allotted between S$30 million and S$35 million as capital expenditure.