BSE net profit nearly halves to Rs 34 cr as margin plunges, expenses rise

Premier exchange BSE on Monday reported a 48 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 33.8 crore for the quarter to September from Rs 65.1 crore in the year-ago period as its operating margin fell to a fourth of the previous fiscal.

While the operating margin crashed to 7 per cent in the reporting quarter from a high 28 per cent a year ago, its operating income fell by 75 per cent to Rs 13.4 crore from Rs 53.2 crore, the bourse said in a regulatory filing.

The exchange filing did not offer a reason for the massive fall in both except saying that its expenses jumped 36 per cent to Rs 184.3 crore from Rs 135.6 crore.

Revenue of Asia's oldest exchange inched up 6 per cent to Rs 239.8 crore for the quarter from Rs 225.8 crore in the same period of the previous year. Operational revenue grew 5 per cent to Rs 197.7 crore from Rs 188.8 crore.

It booked other income of Rs 42.1 crore, up 14 per cent from Rs 37.1 crore.

The exchange saw issuers raising Rs 3.7 lakh crore through equity, bonds, commercial papers, municipal bonds, InvITs and other instruments during the quarter.

The total number of investor accounts registered with the BSE rose to 11.7 crore. The average daily turnover in the equity segment rose 17 per cent to Rs 4,740 crore while that in the equity derivatives segment jumped 88 per cent to Rs 2.26 lakh crore. The daily volume in the currency derivatives category rose 31 per cent to Rs 32,161 crore.

BSE Star MF, which is the largest mutual fund distribution platform, saw the total number of transactions rising 39 per cent to 5.91 crore during the quarter from 4.3 crore in the year-ago period.

Its SME exchange, which is the oldest and the largest having began a decade ago, had 16 companies list on the platform during the quarter, taking total companies to 393, and 14 on the startups platform. BSE enjoys 60 per cent market share in the SME segment.

Its IFSC arm, India International Exchange (or India INX) in the GIFT City, which began trading in January 2017, had an average daily turnover of USD 14.7 billion and a market share of 92.1 per cent in the reporting quarter.

The India INX platform allows investment in over 30,000 stocks across 33 countries and 135 exchanges across the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Total trading turnover at India INX reached USD 441 million in September.

BSE owns 61.93 per cent in India INX and 59.92 per cent in India International Clearing Corporation, and both hold 10 per cent each in India International Bullion Holding, which is the holding company of the International Bullion Exchange launched in July.