ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX) today announced that its full year FY 2018 revenue was up by $58 million (almost 8%) mainly due to new listings and increased derivatives and OTC trading.
Underlying profit was up 7% to $465 million while statutory profit was up 2.5% to $445 million. Total capital raised on the ASX during the year was up 46% to $81.7 billion led by IPOs in companies such as Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL).
Total FY 2018 dividends were up 7.2% to 216.3 cents per share, an effective 3.2% yield at a 90% pay out ratio.
The ASX also provided an update on the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) replacement project with the new ASX CHESS DLT system expected to go live in late 2020 – early 2021.
What did management have to say?
ASX Managing Director and CEO Mr Dominic Stevens highlighted that the business was benefiting from its non-cyclical nature and its ability to generate profit even in periods of low volatility.
He said, "This is a very pleasing financial result reflecting ASX's disciplined balance between investing in the operation and integrity of our core businesses – our Stronger Foundations initiative – and pursuing growth initiatives. This result highlights the versatility of ASX's diversified business model to deliver attractive earnings growth across different business cycles".
Strong volatility ahead
Looking ahead, the ASX Ltd is expecting trading revenues to increase due to market volatility as a result of rate changes in the US and geopolitical instability.
Demerger plans such as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (ASX: CBA) spin off of its wealth division and the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) spin off of Coles are also expected to head up a strong pipeline of expected listings.
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