Hot stock: SGX surges 4.6% on highest quarterly profit in over a decade

SHARES in Singapore Exchange (SGX) jumped by more than 4 per cent on Friday - hitting a new 52-week high - after the bourse reported its highest quarterly net profit in more than a decade overnight.

As at 10.15am on Friday, SGX shares were trading at S$8.66, up 4.6 per cent, or 38 Singapore cents on a cum-dividend basis. Some 3.3 million shares changed hands, making it one of the most heavily traded counters on the Singapore bourse for the day.

The stock has now surpassed its 52-week high of S$8.61, and was the highest advancer by percentage gain among the index stocks in the early morning trade.

On Thursday after the markets closed, the Singapore bourse posted a 25 per cent surge in its first-quarter net profit to S$114.2 million for the three months ended Sept 30.

This was driven by higher demand for its suite of investments and risk management tools across its currency, commodity and equity asset classes, the company said.

Earnings per share rose 26 per cent to 10.7 Singapore cents, from 8.5 cents last year, sufficient for the board to declare an interim dividend of 7.5 cents a share. This dividend is unchanged from a year ago, and payable on Nov 11.

SGX CEO Loh Boon Chye said: "We had a strong start to FY2020, with robust performance across all key financial metrics and the highest quarterly net profit in more than 10 years."

This is SGX's first set of results following its July 1 reorganisation under three business units - fixed income, currencies and commodities; equities (cash and derivatives); as well as data, connectivity and indices.