SGX's yearly profit dips 3% to $339.7m

Blame the one-off items it incurred in the past year.

Singapore Exchange incurred a 3% decline in net profits for its financial year 2017.

For the past year, SGX recorded $339.7m net profit, against the 2% decrease in revenue to $800.8m.

According to the group, excluding a one-off loss of $4m from the disposal of its investment in the Bombay Stock Exchange and the one-off acquisition costs of $3.7m for the Baltic Exchange, net profit would have been $347.4m. The group's equities and fixed income – comprising Issuer services, securities trading & clearing and post trade services – delivered a steady performance in FY2017, contributing revenues of $404.5m or 51% of total revenue.

Meanwhile, its securities and trading clearing revenue was comparable to last year at $205m and accounted for 26% of the total revenue. Derivatives revenue decline by 7% to $303.1m and contributed 38% of the total revenue.

For the whole year, the group's expenses declined by 2% to $399.0m, primarily due to lower processing and royalties fees and technology expenses.

SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye said the group achieved creditable results in a year of relatively low volatility in global markets.

"Our diversified multi-asset revenue base enables us to sustain consistent financial performance through different market environments. Looking ahead, there are signs of improving market sentiment. As we grow our business, we will focus on building a stronger multi-asset exchange across geographies, and invest strategically for our long-term competitiveness,” he said.