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By Rishav Chatterjee
(Reuters) -Australian exchange operator ASX said on Thursday it had recorded higher new listings and total quoted capital in the first half and flagged the momentum was continuing into the second half, leading shares to close 5% higher.
ASX said its operating revenue reached a record high for the six months ended December 31, reflecting a lift in demand for derivatives market data, rising listing fees and higher trading in the cash market.
ASX shares surged as much as 9.2% during trading, the biggest intraday rise in nearly five years.
It reported a 10.1% rise in first-half underlying net profit to A$253.7 million ($159.70 million), beating consensus estimates by 2.8% and said it would pay an interim dividend of A$1.112 a share.
ASX said increased trading in the Australian market was on the back of changing expectations for global interest rates that coupled with major geopolitical disturbances drove volatility in markets.
Initial public offerings also increased in the Australian market, rising to $2.01 billion of net proceeds in 2024, the highest level since 2021, according to LSEG data.
ASX has faced headwinds from regulatory scrutiny due to its inability so far to replace its CHESS clearing and settlement system, after an outage in December.
The exchange operator said it was planning the first industry test environment for the first release of the new CHESS’s clearing services to open later this month.
Costs associated with the failed CHESS replacement have been one of the major investor concerns about the company. ASX reported total expenses of A$220.3 million in the first half, which was flat compared to the prior year.
It also reaffirmed its expense growth guidance of between 6% and 9% for the current financial year.
"The exchange showed the first signs of stabilization in cost growth, an issue since the botched replacement project for its clearing system," said Roy Van Keulen, an analyst at Morningstar.
($1 = 1.5886 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
