SINGAPORE: Singapore Exchange Ltd , Asia's second-largest listed bourse by market value, posted its lowest quarterly profit in two years, hurt by costs related to its failed bid for Australian bourse ASX and higher TECHNOLOGY [] spending.
SGX said that it will continue to build its existing business and pursue strategic growth opportunities, repeating comments made after Australia earlier this month rejected SGX's planned US$8 billion bid for ASX, putting SGX CEO Magnus Bocker's growth strategy into question.
Bocker has said in the past he will not aggressively pursue merger partners and some analysts say the bourse could itself become a takeover target for global exchanges trying to capture Asia's growth.
"We will continue to pursue organic as well as other strategic growth opportunities," Bocker said in a statement on Tuesday. "Market activities in this quarter have been affected by global events."
SGX posted a January-March net profit of S$67.02 million (US$53.7 million), compared with S$74.6 million a year ago.
This was below an average forecast of S$85 million by four analysts polled by Reuters and the lowest quarterly net profit since the January-March 2009 quarter, when SGX posted a net profit of $55.3 million.
SGX incurred a cost of S$12 million for ASX merger costs and operating expenses rose 18 percent from a year earlier, driven by a 40 percent jump in technology spending.
Derivatives volume saw a late surge in SGX's third quarter, driven by heightened volatility in Japanese and Indian stock market futures following the March 11 earthquake in Japan.
SGX's hefty valuation remains a big obstacle for a potential bid for the firm. It is trading at almost 29 percent 2011 earnings against 17 times for ASX. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which acts as a gateway to China, trades at around 39 percent times.
Exchanges around the world are chasing cross-border deals to build scale and cut costs as competition increases from alternative trading platforms such as dark pools.
Even before launching the bid for ASX late last year, Bocker tried to boost trading volumes by rolling out American Depository Receipts of top Chinese companies and commodities futures.
The listing of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's US$5.5 billion Hutchison ports unit last month was a big coup for Singapore, which has struggled to compete against Hong Kong and its ability to lure multi-billion dollar IPOs such as that of commodities giant Glencore.
"SGX faces multiple challenges, among them disappointing growth in securities turnover, margin contraction and a rise in operating expenses," said Sachin Nikhare, an analyst at IIFL before the earnings.
SGX's securities market revenue was only slightly up from a year earlier to S$73.7 million.
Derivatives revenue climbed about 22 percent, helped by volumes from options and commodities.
SGX's shares briefly surged to its highest in more than two months after the bid for ASX was rejected earlier this month.
SGX shares closed on Monday down 0.8 percent at S$8.08.
The shares are about 4 percent lower so far this year, underperforming bigger rival Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd whose shares are up around 3 percent. ASX shares are down about 12 percent. ' Reuters
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SGX said that it will continue to build its existing business and pursue strategic growth opportunities, repeating comments made after Australia earlier this month rejected SGX's planned US$8 billion bid for ASX, putting SGX CEO Magnus Bocker's growth strategy into question.
Bocker has said in the past he will not aggressively pursue merger partners and some analysts say the bourse could itself become a takeover target for global exchanges trying to capture Asia's growth.
"We will continue to pursue organic as well as other strategic growth opportunities," Bocker said in a statement on Tuesday. "Market activities in this quarter have been affected by global events."
SGX posted a January-March net profit of S$67.02 million (US$53.7 million), compared with S$74.6 million a year ago.
This was below an average forecast of S$85 million by four analysts polled by Reuters and the lowest quarterly net profit since the January-March 2009 quarter, when SGX posted a net profit of $55.3 million.
SGX incurred a cost of S$12 million for ASX merger costs and operating expenses rose 18 percent from a year earlier, driven by a 40 percent jump in technology spending.
Derivatives volume saw a late surge in SGX's third quarter, driven by heightened volatility in Japanese and Indian stock market futures following the March 11 earthquake in Japan.
SGX's hefty valuation remains a big obstacle for a potential bid for the firm. It is trading at almost 29 percent 2011 earnings against 17 times for ASX. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which acts as a gateway to China, trades at around 39 percent times.
Exchanges around the world are chasing cross-border deals to build scale and cut costs as competition increases from alternative trading platforms such as dark pools.
Even before launching the bid for ASX late last year, Bocker tried to boost trading volumes by rolling out American Depository Receipts of top Chinese companies and commodities futures.
The listing of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's US$5.5 billion Hutchison ports unit last month was a big coup for Singapore, which has struggled to compete against Hong Kong and its ability to lure multi-billion dollar IPOs such as that of commodities giant Glencore.
"SGX faces multiple challenges, among them disappointing growth in securities turnover, margin contraction and a rise in operating expenses," said Sachin Nikhare, an analyst at IIFL before the earnings.
SGX's securities market revenue was only slightly up from a year earlier to S$73.7 million.
Derivatives revenue climbed about 22 percent, helped by volumes from options and commodities.
SGX's shares briefly surged to its highest in more than two months after the bid for ASX was rejected earlier this month.
SGX shares closed on Monday down 0.8 percent at S$8.08.
The shares are about 4 percent lower so far this year, underperforming bigger rival Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd whose shares are up around 3 percent. ASX shares are down about 12 percent. ' Reuters
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