Singapore Exchange turns in strong Q4 profit but falls over the full year

People walk past a Singapore Exchange logo at its head office in Singapore, on April 22, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Exchange has posted net profit of $85.2 million for the fourth quarter, a hefty 10.9 per cent rise from a year earlier, on a 4.9 per cent rise in revenue to $207.7 million.

But for the full year 2017, its net profit slid 3 per cent to $339.7 million.

Excluding a one-off loss of $4 million from the disposal of its investment in the Bombay Stock Exchange, and one-off acquisition costs of $3.7 million for the Baltic Exchange, its net profit would have been $347.4 million.

Total revenues fell 2 per cent to $800.8 million for the year.

Quarterly earnings per share rose to eight cents from 7.2 cents while net asset value per share was 84.2 cents as at June 30, compared with 76 cents a year ago.

Equities and fixed income - comprising issuer services, securities trading and clearing, and post-trade services - made up 51 per cent of total revenue.

Within this, turnover from issuer services climbed 2 per cent to $83.8 million, helped largely by a 6 per cent increase in listing revenue to $49.4 million backed by a record number of new bond listings.

There were 819 bond listings raising $384.7 billion for the year, compared with 349 listings raising $172 billion previously.

The board proposed a final dividend of 13 cents a share payable on Oct 6, bringing the total dividend for the year to 28 cents a share.

"We achieved creditable results in a year of relatively low volatility in global markets. Our diversified multi-asset revenue base enabled us to sustain consistent financial performance through different market environments. Looking ahead, there are signs of improving market sentiment," said Mr Loh Boon Chye, SGX chief executive.

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