KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia believes it will meet all five headline key performance indicators (KPIs) for financial year ending 2024 after closing the first quarter with a 33.6 per cent jump in net profit.
The stock market regulator posted a net profit profit of RM75.0 million for the quarter ended March 31 2024, up from RM56.2 million reported a year ago.
Group revenue increased to RM187.20 million against RM156.50 million previously.
Bursa said this was driven by a 23.0 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in the securities market's operating revenue to RM123.1 million in 1Q 2024 from RM100.0 million in 1Q 2023.
Chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said Bursa had started the year on a firm footing, drawing upon the positive momentum of the past year.
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the exchange is cautiously optimistic in meeting all five headline KPIs for financial year ending 2024," Umar said in a statement today.
The five headline KPIs cover both financial and non-financial areas.
Financially, the focus is on achieving a pre-tax profit from RM293 million to RM323 million, and boosting non-trading revenue growth rate of 5.0-7.0 percent from FY2023.
Bursa also aim to launch sustainable initiatives like Renewable Energy Certificates and the implementation of a Centralised Sustainability Intelligence (CSI) platform.
Efforts also extend to promoting sustainability via new products and services, targeting initial public offerings (IPOs), and enhancing IPO market capitalisation with 42 IPOs totaling RM13.0 billion.
On the non-financial side, Bursa wants to reduce its carbon footprint by at least 7.5 per cent of Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions from FY2022, aligning with broader environmental objectives.
Last week, Bursa's benchmark FBM KLCI first rose to a fresh two-year high of 1,571.48 points on Wednesday before outpacing that level at 1,575.16 points on Friday, in tandem with the positive performance of regional bourses.
Reviewing the interim results, Umar noted that the exchange's trading velocity had seen an uptick, rising to 39 per cent in the first quarter under review from 31 per cent in 1Q 2023.
Market capitalisation stood at RM1.9 billion as at March 31 this year, with basic earnings per share rising by 2.4 sen to 9.3 sen.
The average daily trading value (ADV) for the securities market's on-market trades (OMT) continues to grow, rising by 36.9 per cent y-o-y to RM2.9 billion from RM2.1 billion in 1Q 2023, substantially contributing to a higher operating revenue this quarter.
"While key economic indicators are pointing towards a brighter outlook for the Malaysian economy, the ongoing global and local developments will continue to influence the volatility and performance of the securities and derivatives markets.
"We have been working closely with other regulators to ensure market efficiency and improved market accessibility and liquidity to support participants during this period," he said.
Listing and issuer services grew by 8.9 per cent y-o-y to RM16.3 million from RM15.0 million previously, while depository services witnessed an 18.3 per cent y-o-y increase to RM15.5 million from RM13.1 million last year.
The derivatives market's operating revenue rose 12.7 per cent y-o-y to RM31.8 million from RM28.3 million last year, driven primarily by the rise in average daily contracts (ADC) in both crude palm oil futures (FCPO) and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures (FKLI).
Muhamad Umar said FCPO and FKLI had propelled the derivatives market's ADC higher by 18.0 per cent y-o-y to 84,222 contracts in 1Q 2024.
As for the Islamic market, operating revenue remained stable at RM4.5 million, mirroring the previous corresponding quarter's performance, while the data business segment demonstrated significant growth, with operating revenue increasing by 21.9 per cent y-o-y to RM19.0 million from RM15.6 million in 1Q 2023.
Bursa's total operating expenses edged up 8.6 per cent y-o-y to RM87.1 million in 1Q 2024 from RM80.2 million previously, mainly due to higher staff costs and technology expenses.
Muhamad Umar said Bursa is well-positioned to continue developing the marketplace and make further progress on its strategic plans.
"We expect growth momentum in the data business with the CSI platform which will foster environmental, social and governance transparency, targeted to be launched in June 2024," he added.
The recently-launched SME X Platform will also contribute to this growth, by connecting the small and medium enterprises to capital providers for fundraising.
"As for the Islamic market, we have seen strong participation in the user registrations of the Bursa Gold Dinar app following its launch on Jan 16. We will continue our focus on introducing new value- added features and digital marketing efforts to increase our investor base.
"We also anticipate sustained trading activity within BSAS, supported by ongoing engagements with both local and foreign participants," he added.