(Reuters) -Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) reported on Thursday its highest ever half-year profit since going public, driven by strong performance across all its business segments, particularly cash equities and equity derivatives.
The bourse operator, which has been struggling to attract listings from high-growth companies over the past few years, said it remained optimistic for the medium-term and had observed improvement in its pipeline of initial public offerings.
However, it warned of a moderation in tailwinds observed during the first half.
“Looking ahead for the near term, we expect some of the 1H FY2025 macro tailwinds to potentially moderate, as the impact from the U.S. elections and China stimulus measure announcements taper off,” the bourse operator said.
Over the six months ended Dec. 31, SGX earned S$12.7 million in listing revenues, down from S$14.6 million a year earlier. A total of five new listings raised S$19.7 million in aggregate.
A review group set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the city-state’s central bank, is examining ways to energise the local equities market after a dismal performance in 2024. It is expected to issue a report in August.
SGX’s cash equities business generated net revenue of S$192.6 million ($142.90 million) in the first half, up 22.3% from a year ago, while that of the derivatives equities business jumped 21.6% to S$177.4 million.
That helped boost the company’s adjusted net profit to S$320.1 million for the reported period, compared with S$251.4 million a year earlier. It was comfortably ahead of the Visible Alpha consensus of S$304.5 million.
The group declared an interim dividend of 9 Singapore cents per share, up from 8.5 Singapore cents a year ago.
($1 = 1.3478 Singapore dollars)
(Reporting by Sherin Sunny and Nikita Maria Jino in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar, Maju Samuel and Rashmi Aich)
