KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 ― Bursa Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 (Q1 FY2022) slipped to RM67.97 million from RM121.39 million in the same period a year ago.
The decrease in earnings was due to lower operating revenue which fell 29.4 per cent to RM161 million from RM228 million in Q1 FY2021, primarily caused by a decline in securities trading revenue.
Revenue in Q1 FY2022 fell to RM165.29 million from RM232.27 million previously, the exchange operator said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia.
Chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said average daily trading value of securities continued to normalise to pre-pandemic levels which contributed to the decline in profit for the current year quarter compared to same quarter last year.
“However, profit after tax is 4.6 per cent higher than the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 of RM65 million, mainly contributed by a 2.8 per cent higher average daily trading value registered this quarter,” he said in a separate statement filed with the exchange.
Bursa Malaysia said the Securities Market recorded a segment profit of RM104.4 million in Q1 FY2022, a decrease of 40.2 per cent compared with RM174.6 million in Q1 FY2021 mainly due to lower operating revenue in the current year quarter.
The segment registered a trading revenue of RM80.4 million, down 46.7 per cent from RM150.9 million in Q1 FY2021, owing to the lower Average Daily Trading Value for Securities Market’s On-Market Trades and Direct Business Trades in Q1 FY2022 of RM2.7 billion against RM5.2 billion in the same period last year.
The Derivatives Market recorded a segment profit of RM12.9 million in the current year quarter, up 11.5 per cent from RM11.6 million in Q1 FY2021 mainly due to higher operating revenue in Q1 FY2022.
The segment's Average Daily Contracts fell 3.5 per cent, with 77,513 contracts in Q1 FY2022 against 80,338 contracts in Q1 FY2021.
However, the total derivatives trading revenue increased by 3.4 per cent to RM23.3 million from RM22.6 million previously, it said.
Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia said funds raised through Initial Public Offerings in Q1 FY2022 totalled RM1.5 billion, much higher than the RM0.2 billion raised in Q1 FY2021.
As for the Islamic Markets, it said higher trading activity in Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ resulted in an increase of trading revenue by 12.2 per cent to RM3.8 million in the first quarter this year from RM3.4 million previously.
“Listing and issuer services rose 7.2 per cent to to close first quarter at RM16.9 million compared to RM15.8 million in Q1 FY2021,” it said.
Bursa Malaysia also noted that total operating expenses reported a 4.6 per cent increase to RM72.5 million in Q1 FY2022 from RM69.4 million previously.
Muhamad Umar said with the reopening of the economy and international borders, Bank Negara Malaysia expects Malaysia's growth forecast to be between 5.3 per cent and 6.3 per cent.
“As such, better economic growth can be expected as the nation moves towards the endemic phase, and we anticipate more trading opportunities for investors due to movements in crude palm oil prices, interest rate policies and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI.
“To ensure we sustain the interest of global investors, we will continue to enhance the attractiveness of listed issuers through initiatives such as the PLC Transformation programme launched earlier this year,” he said. ― Bernama
