Bursa Malaysia Berhad has recorded a Profit After Tax and Minority Interest (PATAMI) of RM 64.7 million for the first quarter ended March 31, recording a 38.2 percent increase from RM 46.9 million reported in the previous quarter ended March 31.
The increase in PATAMI was due to higher operating revenue by 19.8 percent to RM 145.5 million from 1Q2019.
Total operating expenses in 1Q2020 has also increased by 2.4 percent by RM 63.5 million from RM 62.0 million in 1Q2019.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has profound impact across all industries. The Exchange continued to ensure orderly operations of our market to preserve the flows of capital in our economy, as well as to aid market participants in managing potential risks and opportunities they may face,” said Muhamad Umar Swift, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer.
“Amidst the exceptionally volatile and uncertain market environment, we saw higher trading activities in both the Securities and Derivatives Markets. Our derivative products have served as an efficient price discovery and hedging instrument during this volatile period. As a testament, Derivatives Market registered several new highs in trading volume and open interest in 1Q 2020,” he added.
Bursa also noted the Securities Market registered trading revenue of RM78.1 million compared to RM59.0 million in the previous corresponding quarter, increased by 32.2 percent as a result of higher Average Daily Trading Value (“ADV”) for Securities Market’s on-market trades in 1Q2020.
Additionally, the Derivatives Market trading revenue increased by 63.5 percent to RM 26.7 million in 1Q2020 from RM 16.4 million in 1Q2019, mainly due to higher number of contracts traded for Crude Palm Oil Futures and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures.
Conference fees and exhibition-related income saw a decline in 1Q2020, mainly due to the postponement of the Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition 2020.
Its Islamic Capital Market, Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ (BSAS), intense competition and slower economic activities have resulted in trading revenue decreasing by 25.2 percent to RM 2.9 million in 1Q2020 from RM 3.9 million in 1Q2019.
The Exchange had also onboarded nine new participants for BSAS, two of which are foreign and is expected to sustain its level of activities through continuous engagement with its participants to increase trading activities.
“Appropriate measures will be introduced as required to ease the financial burden of the capital market participants and help speedier market recovery,” Umar added.
