The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2020, posting a strong performance by its foreign exchange (Forex ) market, as well as record fee income on the equities and derivatives markets.
In particular, during the three month period, fee and commission income grew by 29.3 per cent on a yearly comparison. This was largely driven by the equities, derivatives and FX markets, the exchange said. Quarter-on-quarter fee and commission income was higher by 11.4 per cent.
During the period, net income for the first quarter was RUB 5.9 billion ($80.8 million). When measuring this against the same quarter of the previous year, net income is up by 90.7 per cent, it is also slightly stronger than the fourth quarter of 2019 by 2.7 per cent.
Taking a look at the Russian exchange’s FX market, fee and commission income was RUB 1.1 billion during Q1 of 2020. Against Q1 of 2019, this is higher by 22.8 per cent, income has also risen by 24.8 per cent against the previous quarter.
Trading volumes, although higher, didn’t post as much of a significant growth, coming in at RUB 80.9 billion. This represents an uptick of 6.7 per cent on an annual comparison and 15.5 per cent against Q4 of 2019.
MOEX equities market sees solid performance in Q1
The equities market on MOEX, achieved a notable uptick in income and volumes. Coming in at RUB 1.1 billion, fee and commission income grew by 169.6 per cent against Q1 of 2019, which had an income of RUB 414.4 million. Against the final quarter of last year, income is stronger by 58.6 per cent.
Trading volumes were also strong for the equities market, rising from RUB 2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2019 by 176.2 per cent to reach RUB 6.3 billion. Volumes also increased by 62.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Commenting on the results, Max Lapin, CFO of Moscow Exchange, said: "Fee and commission income improved substantially thanks to contributions from the Equities, Derivatives and FX Markets as well as Depository & Settlement Services. Extraordinary Volatility helped us achieve new F&C highs.
“The Bond Market pulled back from its recent peak, as the environment was not conducive for primary placements. The Money Market remained nearly flat, decreasingly slightly due to a combination of factors. The Money Market is driven by the product mix, repo terms and aggregate size of market participants’ positions rather than by volatility.”
