SINGAPORE - Singapore Exchange (SGX) has announced a 16 per cent on-year increase in net profit to $86.6 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31. This came as revenue grew 19 per cent to $195.1 million, supported by strong growth in the bourse's derivatives business.

"We saw a record quarter for our derivatives business while securities trading grew slightly. Derivatives revenue was a record $76.4 million following a 52 per cent increase in volumes to 40 million contracts", a growth driven by the strong performances of the FTSE China A50 futures and iron ore products, SGX said in a statement on Jan 21.

Revenue from securities trading however dropped 1 per cent on-year to $51.7 million, as the 3 per cent rise in total trade value was offset by a 4 per cent drop in average clearing fee. SGX is in the midst of pushing out initiatives to vitalise its securities business, having cut its minimum board lot size from 1,000 shares to 100 shares on Jan 19 to encourage more retail investments.

Meanwhile, the quarter saw 14 new listing that raised $700 million, down from $1.4 billion raised by nine new listings in the same period a year ago.

Net asset value per share stood at 77.8 cents and earnings per share went up 16 per cent on-year to 8.1 cents, SGX said while announcing an interim cash dividend of four cents per share.

Commenting on the bourse's outlook, chief executive Magnus Bocker said: "We expect the demand for Asian trading and clearing services to grow… We have accelerated capital investments in our derivatives and fixed income businesses, in addition to on-going investments including a new generation post trade system for our securities business."