KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 ― Bursa Malaysia Bhd's net profit surged to RM121.39 million in the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2021, up 87.5 per cent from RM64.73 million in the same quarter last year.
The exchange operator said the securities market recorded a 92.5 per cent year-on-year growth in segment profit to RM174.6 million while the derivatives market’s segment profit dipped 28.3 per cent to RM11.6 million.
Meanwhile, the group’s revenue jumped to RM232.28 million from RM150.75 million a year earlier, while its basic earnings per share rose to 15 sen from eight sen previously.
“The securities market witnessed active trading amid strong volatility as retail participation continues to play a significant role in trading activities.
“The volatility in the securities market, influenced by local and global events and the ongoing developments surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the sustained low-interest-rate environment in the short to medium term, is expected to continue to attract investments and trading on the stock market,” it announced on its website today.
In the derivatives market, Bursa Malaysia’s global benchmark futures crude palm oil (CPO) price rose above RM4,000 in the quarter under review for the first time since 2009.
External factors such as the dry weather conditions in South America affecting the production of soybean oil, weak CPO output, and low inventory in Malaysia continued to influence the volatility in the underlying CPO prices, it said.
For futures contracts (FKLI), the lack of volatility in the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) partly contributed to the lower trading activities in Q1, it said.
The volatility of both the CPO prices and the FBM KLCI would continue to influence the level of trading activity in both the crude palm oil futures contracts and FKLI, Bursa Malaysia said.
It said it would continue to intensify its ongoing initiatives to attract more new participants to enhance its ecosystem. ― Bernama
