Moscow Exchange (MOEX) generated a net profit of almost RUB 7 billion ($94 million) in the second quarter of 2021, the largest Russian exchange group announced on Friday. The overall profits grew by 2.1 percent year-over-year.
The operating income of the exchange, between April and June, came in at RUB 13.19 billion, jumping 9.7 percent from the same quarter of the prior year and 2.6 percent from the previous quarter. Income coming from fees and commissions climbed by 24.2 percent on a yearly basis to RUB 9.9 billion, accounting for more than 75 percent of the total operating income.
On an adjusted basis, the net profit of the exchange stood at RUB 6.43 billion, which is only 1.5 percent higher, while the EBITDA margin dropped to 68.2 percent from the previous year’s 72.4 percent.
FX Market Activities Climb
The jump in operating income and profits resulted from increased activities across all financial markets and services offered by the Russian exchange.
The quarterly trading volume on the foreign exchange (Forex ) market, in particular, jumped by 14.3 percent year-over-year to RUB 85.9 trillion, while the rise on a quarterly basis was 9.1 percent. The exchange earned RUB 1.02 billion from fees and commissions imposed on forex transactions, which saw a yearly marginal increase of 0.8 percent but fell by 4.9 percent from the previous quarter.
Additionally, trading demand with equities, derivatives and money market instruments skyrocketed in the quarter; only bond market trading volume went the other way, sinking 23.7 percent year-over-year. However, on a quarterly basis equities and derivatives demand tanked, while trading with bonds and money market instruments jumped by 19.9 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
“The expansion of instruments available to investors on our platform and extended trading hours on the Derivatives and FX Markets boosted trading volumes and helped significantly increase fee and commission income,” MOEX CEO Yury Denisov said.
