Bursa Malaysia reports strong Q4 profit, appoints RHB Bank executive as new CEO

BURSA Malaysia has wrapped a strong earnings year due to the ongoing global and local developments spurring market activity, as well as the increased demand for services.

It also appointed Fad’l Mohamed as its new chief executive, replacing Muhamad Umar, the operator of the country’s bourse said on Monday (Jan 27).

The stock exchange operator registered a net profit of RM68.9 million (S$21.2 million) in the fourth quarter of FY24, up from RM59.55 million in the year-ago quarter, on higher revenue of RM185.91 million compared with RM156.68 million in the comparative quarter.

This brought the year’s net profit to RM310.12 million, a 22.9 per cent increase from RM252.38 million in FY23.

Revenue for the year rose to RM784.3 million from RM616.49 million in the year before, reported The Star news website.

Basic earnings per share increased to 38.3 sen in FY24 from 31.2 sen in the previous year.

In line with the performance, the board of directors declared a final dividend of 18 sen per share for the year, as well as a special dividend of eight sen per share.

Including the previous interim dividend, the annual payout comes to 36 sen per share for a 93.9 per cent payout ratio.

According to Bursa Malaysia, the securities market registered trading revenue of RM381.5 million in FY24, which compares to RM266.6 million in FY23, due to higher average daily trading value for on-market trades and direct business trade.

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Trading velocity climbed by 10 percentage points to 39 per cent in FY24 compared with 29 per cent in FY23.

The three additional trading days in FY24 also contributed to the increase in trading revenue.

Muhamad will be stepping down in March and will be succeeded by Fad’l. Fad’l is currently the managing director of RHB Bank’s group wholesale banking unit and has experience as a CEO from his stint with Maybank Investment Bank, Reuters reported.

Muhamad, the chief executive since early 2019, has been with the exchange through the Covid-19 pandemic as well as when the bourse clocked a record equity capitalisation of RM2 trillion.

He will retire this year for Fad’l to take charge from March 1.

Fad’l’s “understanding of capital markets and investment banking sets him in solid stead to lead the exchange into the future”, pointed out Bursa Malaysia chairman Abdul Wahid Omar.