Australian Stock Exchange, the Asia-Pacific's second-biggest listed bourse, said yesterday first-half normalised net profit climbed 40 per cent as a record-breaking stock market boosted trading volumes.
ASX, which last year acquired smaller rival SFE Corp to get a foothold in the booming derivatives trading, said normal net profitin the six months ended December 31, 2006, rose to A$139.3 million ($157.36 million).
This was above the market's forecast for a normalised net profit of A$122 million, according to a Reuters poll of eight analysts.
It was the first time ASX released profits for the combined group.
A wave of mergers and acquisitions lifted Australian sharemarkets to a string of record peaks last year, boosting trading activity.
Equity trading volumes jumped 49 per cent in the half to end-December, while the value of trades climbed 29 per cent.
Shares in ASX, which has a market value of around A$7 billion, have rallied 28 per cent between July 2006 and Wednesday's close, outpacing a 17 per cent rise in the S&P/ASX 200 index.
