MCX Q2 net profit declines over three-fold to Rs 27 crore

The exchange clocked a net profit of Rs 81 crore in the same period last year

Leading commodity bourse MCX today reported over three-fold drop in its standalone net profit to Rs 27.04 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal due to lower income and higher expenses.

The exchange, promoted by Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies India Ltd (FTIL), had clocked a net profit of Rs 81.40 crore in the same period last year, MCX said in a BSE filing.

The performance of the futures commodity exchange MCX has been affected on imposition of commodity transaction tax (CTT) since July and also due to the recent Rs 5,600 crore payment crisis at FTIL group's another bourse National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).

CTT of 0.01% has been made effective from July 1 on the futures trading of non-agri commodities and processed foods. The government has exempted 23 agricultural commodities from the new tax.

According to the filing, net income of MCX declined by 36% to Rs 88.02 crore in the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 137.60 crore in the same period last year. Expenses increased to Rs 77.19 crore from Rs 57.55 crore in the review period.

During the first half of the current fiscal, the standalone net profit of MCX has declined by 40% to Rs 87.16 crore from Rs 146.14 crore in the year-ago period.

"MCX's performance during H1 FY2014 was relatively good, considering the impact of Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) effective July 1, 2013," the exchange's Deputy Managing Director P K Singhal said in a statement.

The average daily turnover on the MCX was at Rs 37,533 crore in the first half of the 2013-14 fiscal.

According to data maintained by the regulator of commodity markets in India, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), MCX's market share was 89% of the Indian commodity futures market in terms of the value of the contracts traded during H1 of the 2013-2014, the exchange said.

MCX has declared an interim dividend of Rs 7 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each for the 2013-14 fiscal based on the unaudited financials for the six months period ended September 30, 2013, it added.

In a separate BSE filing, MCX said two shareholder directors have been appointed in order to comply with the revised guidelines issued by the regulator FMC for the national level commodity bourses in September.

M A K Prabhu, Canara Bank General Manager as well as B V Chaubal, SBI Deputy Managing Director and Group Executive, have been appointed as shareholder directors, respectively, on the MCX Board. Their appointment would be subject to FMC approval, it added.

The company's scrip was trading up by 1.93% at Rs 490.30 at 11.40 am on the BSE.