KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Bursa Malaysia Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2020 surged more than twofold to a record high of RM121.94 million from RM47.10 million a year earlier, on the back of higher operating revenue.  

In a bourse filing today, Bursa said revenue for the quarter jumped to RM237.74 million from RM122.67 million previously.

Earnings per share was 15.1 sen versus 5.8 sen earlier.

For the nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY20), Bursa said its net profit jumped 94.5% to RM272.89 million from RM140.29 million in the year-ago period, on the back of revenue of RM568.27 million versus RM373.16 million a year ago.

In a separate statement, Bursa said total operating expenses in 9MFY20 increased by 11.1% to RM200.4 million from RM180.3 million in 9MFY19 due to higher staff costs, professional fees and information technology maintenance cost.

Bursa chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said against the backdrop of unprecedented circumstances, the exchange delivered an exceptional 9MFY20 financial performance, recording the highest ever nine-month PATAMI since listing in 2005.

He said the ongoing developments with regards to Covid-19, low-interest-rate environment, the Malaysian government’s stimulus packages and the gradual re-opening of the economy continue to support investor participation across segments led by domestic institutions and retail.

“The continuous operations of our markets have been critical in making available the necessary liquidity and risk management tools for investors to respond in a higher volatility environment and invest in new opportunities,” he said.

Reviewing its performance, Bursa said investor participation in the Securities Market continued to increase, with average daily trading value growing by 101.8% to RM4 billion in 9MFY20 compared to RM2 billion in 9MFY19.

As a result, it said securities trading revenue increased by 101.1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM349.2 million in 9MFY20 from RM173.6 million.

Bursa said the additional number of trading days and the higher effective clearing fee in 9MFY20 also contributed to the increase in trading revenue.

Trading velocity increased by 34 percentage points to 62% compared to 9MFY19, it said.

Meanwhile, it said non-trading revenue increased by 7% to RM110.9 million from RM103.6 million in the previous corresponding period.

The stock market operator said this was contributed by higher market data revenue, which increased by 20.4% y-o-y to RM26.7 million in 9MFY20 from RM22.2 million, underpinned by the rise in the number of new subscribers.

Bursa said depository services revenue also increased by 9.3% to RM34.4 million in 9MFY20 from RM31.5 million in 9MFY19 due to higher record of depositors fees and account opening fees earned.

Umar said while key economic indicators are pointing towards an improving outlook for the Malaysian economy, the ongoing developments of the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to influence the volatility and performance of the Securities and Derivatives markets.

He said Bursa has been working closely with other regulators to ensure market efficiency and improved market accessibility and liquidity to support participants during this period.

“Despite the challenges, we are well-positioned to continue developing the marketplace and make further progress on our strategic plans.

“We have seen promising results after successfully conducting five listing ceremonies and holding our flagship events, namely Invest Malaysia Conference and Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference & Exhibition fully virtual.

“Each of these initiatives is important towards ensuring our offerings remain relevant to our diverse range of investors,” he said.

At midday break, Bursa rose 1.65% or 14 sen to RM8.62, for a market capitalisation of RM6.97 billion.