HK bourse's 9 mth profit climbs 3% ahead of Shanghai link

[ HONG KONG] Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEx), the world's second-largest listed stock market operator, posted a 3 per cent rise in profits for the first nine months of the year, as trading volumes rose ahead of a proposed trading link with Shanghai.

Net profit climbed to HK$3.65 billion(S$607 million) in January-September from HK$3.53 billion a year earlier, HKEx said in a statement on Wednesday.

The launch of the Hong Kong-Shanghai trading link, seen as a milestone in the opening up of China's capital markets, had been expected on Oct 27 but was delayed for reasons that remain unclear.

HKEx has "not received the relevant approval for the launch of stock connect, and there was no firm date for its implementation," the exchange operator said in the filing.

Shares in HKEx have surged by nearly a third in value this year compared with a 2.6 per cent rise in the benchmark Hang Seng index with investors betting that the new scheme will result in a jump in trading volumes.

REUTERS