Bonnie Y Chan, Chief Executive Officer said:

HKEX had a robust first half of the year with the second quarter seeing an upswing in market momentum and trading activity, driving record second quarter revenue and other income and profit.

The Group’s diversification strategy continued to deliver results, underpinned by record volumes in our Derivatives Market, and a 29 per cent year-on-year gain in LME chargeable average daily volumes in the first half.

Fundraising activity remained resilient and has shown signs of warming, with the second quarter seeing a 50 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase in new listings and a 79 per cent increase in IPO funds raised.

HKEX made significant strategic progress during the period with measures to further elevate the competitiveness of our markets, including the release of a consultation paper to reduce minimum spreads in the securities market, new enhancements to Swap Connect, as well as plans to implement Severe Weather Trading from 23 September 2024.

We also announced a major investment in our technology to develop the Orion Derivatives Platform, marking an important step to own our digital destiny and part of our commitment to ensure that Hong Kong’s markets are future ready. Looking ahead, while macro-environment uncertainties persist, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the rest of the year. We are resolutely focused on driving the vibrancy, resilience and competitiveness of our markets, by continuously enhancing our market infrastructure, expanding our products and international partnerships and future-proofing our business. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners and other stakeholders to deliver on our strategy.

Financial Highlights

H 2024 revenue and other income of $10,621 million was comparable with 1H 2023:

– Core business revenue was in line with 1H 2023, as lower revenue from trading and clearing activities of the Cash Market, net investment income and listing was mostly offset by higher LME trading and clearing fees driven by both volume and fee increases.

– Net investment income from Corporate Funds was $901 million (1H 2023: $817 million), benefitting from the high interest rate environment.

 Operating expenses were up 7 per cent against 1H 2023, attributable to higher staff and IT costs, partly offset by the partial recovery of legal fees relating to the events in the nickel market in March 2022.

 EBITDA margin1 was 73 per cent, 2 percentage points lower than 1H 2023.

 Profit attributable to shareholders was $6,125 million, 3 per cent lower than 1H 2023.

The full results can be read here 

Source: HKEX