KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Bursa Malaysia Bhd shares dipped 1.72% in early trade today after Affin Hwang Capital Research downgraded the stock to “Hold” at RM7.55 with a lower target price of RM7.65 (from RM8.40) and said Bursa’s 3Q18 and 9M18 net profit came in at RM50.2 million (-2.7% y-o-y; -13.8% qoq) and RM172.2 million (+2.6% y-o-y).

At 9.10am, Bursa fell 13 sen to RM7.42 with 87,600 shares traded.

In a note today, the research house said that overall, 9M18 results were below house and market expectations.

It said the weaker equity market sentiment in 3Q18 was reflected by a decline in the total value traded of 12.7% q-o-q and in terms of average daily value (ADV), by -14.1% q-o-q.

“For 9M18, the operating profit contribution from the securities market (+5.5% yoy) remained the key driver (90% of group) while derivatives profits were down 6.1% y-o-y.

“We revise our earnings forecasts by -7.3%/-9.4%/-10% for 2018E/19E/20E as we factor in a lower ADV assumption of RM2.5 billion for the equity market.

“Downgrade to Hold from Buy, with a revised price target of RM7.65 (at a 27x P/E target),” it said.