Bursa Malaysia Berhad registered profit of RM210.4 million for the first half of the year recording a 39.4% increase from the RM151.0 million in 2020.
Commenting on the results, Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman of Bursa Malaysia said, “I am thankful that Bursa Malaysia’s first-half financial performance continues to improve. The Exchange achieved the highest ever first half-yearly financial performance since its listing in 2005. Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “Despite the uncertain global environment from the COVID-19 pandemic, trading activity by retail investors has remained strong, contributing significantly to the performance of the Securities Market. To improve the quality of activity in our market, we continue to place importance on financial education to sustain market interest. Additionally, various relief measures and incentives have been introduced to support listed issuers amidst these challenging times.”
For 1H2021, trading revenue from the Securities Market increased by 41.4%, to RM266.1 million from RM188.2 million in 1H2020. The improved performance is derived from a higher Average Daily Trading Value (“ADV”) of RM4.4 billion for Securities Market’s on-market trades. Non-trading revenue from listing & issuer services, depository services, market data and member services & connectivity also recorded an increase in 1H2021 compared to
1H2020. The significant increase in listing & issuer services was due to higher perusal & processing fees and listing fees earned in 1H2021, while our depository services revenue was mainly from higher Record of Depositors fees, additional issue fees, CDS fees and transfer fees earned in 1H2021.
Meanwhile, the Derivatives Market trading revenue decreased by 6.4% to RM44.9 million in 1H2021 from RM48.0 million in 1H2020, mainly due to lower collateral management fees earned after the reduction of the collateral management fee rate to 0.5% effective July 2020, and lower fees earned from the decline in FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures (FKLI) contracts in 1H2021. Spurred by growth in the volume of crude palm oil futures, Average
Daily Contracts for the Derivatives Market increased slightly by 4.0%, with 80,061 contracts traded in 1H2021 compared to 76,956 in 1H2020. On the Islamic Market front, Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ trading revenue increased by 5.8% to RM6.7 million in 1H2021 from RM6.3 million in 1H2020. Trading activity on Suq Al-Sila’ is expected to sustain its momentum supported by local participants as well as attracting more foreign participants to trade on its platform.
Tan Sri Abdul Wahid continued, “Bursa Malaysia remains well positioned to grow sustainably and responsibly. The volatility in the securities market and sustained low interest rate environment is expected to continue attracting investments and trading. We have recently strengthened our Islamic market capabilities and sustainability solution by introducing the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Shariah index.
The new Environmental, Social and Governance Shariah-compliant themed index will assist fund managers in developing new investment products with a portfolio of Shariah-compliant equities guided by sustainable investing principles. Following the increasing demand for Shariah-compliant products, the Exchange also welcomes the addition of the world’s first Shariah-compliant China A-Shares ETF.
