ASX Limited shares fall on poor first-half results
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More news: ASX Limited shares were 2.84% down by 11.41am AEDT following its earnings results.
The company announced a drop in underlying first-half profit and a trimmed dividend due to rising costs.
Higher costs weigh on ASX first half results
The news: ASX Limited has trimmed its interim dividend after its first-half profit dropped amid rising costs.
The numbers: Net profit on a statutory basis rose 212.8% to $230.5 million, with revenue up 16.6% to $771.7 million. However, on an underlying basis, profit for the six months to December 2023 was down 7.8% to $230.5 million, driven by higher operating expenses.
The ASX said its NPAT was significantly higher than its prior corresponding period because it included the removal of capitalised costs of the CHESS replacement project.
It will pay an interim dividend of 101.2 cents a share, down from 116.2 cents a year ago.
The context: The operator of the country’s biggest bourse said a higher cash rate helped lift net interest income by 20.9% in the first half. However, total expenses jumped 26.9%, mainly on account of regulatory commitments and technology modernisation.
“Clearly this level of growth is not sustainable and reflects the critical demands placed upon ASX in the past year and the investment required to support our long term sustainability,” CEO Helen Lofthouse said.
ASX has been under fire for botching a long-running program to replace the equity market’s CHESS system. It announced in November that Tata Consulting Services would now build the new clearing service, to be delivered in 2026.
The source: ASX announcement
