SGX's profit up 14% to $213.3m in H1 FY2020

Equities contributed to over 70% of the exchange’s revenue.

Singapore Exchange's (SGX) net profit rose 14% YoY to $213.3m in the first half of FY 2020, according to a news release. At the same time, operating revenue grew 11% to $478.5m.

In Q2, net profit edged up 3% to $99m, with operating revenue also climbing 3% to $230.9m.

According to SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye, the exchange saw higher overnight trading from its US and European customers as well as stronger interest across multiple products, as it further built up its asset classes.

Its equities revenue from both cash and derivatives accounted for 72% of the total revenue, although remaining relatively unchanged at $165.3m. Revenue from listings, corporate actions, trading and clearing, securities settlement and depository management all grew around 2-7%, whilst revenue from treasury was comparable with the previous year.

However, equities revenue from derivatives declined 5% to $78.9m, comprising 34% of the total.

Trading and clearing revenue fell 6% to $48m, as equity derivatives volume slipped 18% to 41.3 million contracts mainly due to lower volumes in SGX FTSE China A50, Nikkei 225 and Nifty 50 index futures contracts. Likewise, treasury, licence and other revenue dipped 4% to $30.9m.

Furthermore, fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) revenue jumped 20% to $39m in the quarter, which accounted for 17% of its total revenue. Fixed income revenue expanded 13% to $3.3m, whilst currencies and commodities – derivatives revenue leapt 21% to $35.7m.

Data, connectivity and indices revenue climbed 4% to $26.7m or 12% of SGX’s total revenue. Connectivity revenue grew 4% to $15.6m from higher derivatives connectivity and continued growth of its colocation services business. Meanwhile, market data and indices revenue went up 3% to $11million.

The total expenses edged up 1% to $111.5m, with operating expenses slipping 6% to $89.4m mainly from lower professional fees and technology expenses. Its total expenses for FY 2020 are projected at $465-475m.