Media Release

BSE Ltd. unaudited consolidated and standalone financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020

• Consolidated Net profit attributable to the shareholders for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 up by 28% to Rs 46.81 crore from Rs 36.69 crore in corresponding quarter of previous year.
• Consolidated Operating EBITDA for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 up by Rs 30.73 crore to Rs 22.34 crore from loss of Rs 8.39 crore in corresponding quarter previous year.
• 60% increase in the number of transactions processed in StAR Mutual Fund platform to 4 crore transaction processed during the half year ended September 30, 2020 as compared to 2.50 crore transaction processed during the half year ended September 30, 2019.
• 44% increase in average daily turnover in equity segment to Rs 3,703 crore during the half year ended September 30, 2020 as compared to the Rs 2,563 crore during the half year ended September 30, 2019.
• 195% increase in number of SIP registered to 6.19 lakh during the half year ended September 30, 2020 as compared to 2.10 lakh during the half year ended September 30, 2019.

MUMBAI, November 7, 2020: BSE Ltd. (BSE), Asia’s oldest and first universal exchange and World’s fastest exchange with a speed of 6 microseconds, announced its unaudited consolidated and standalone financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Quarterly Consolidated Financial Results at a Glance

Business Highlights for the half year ended September 30, 2020

• StAR MF Platform: BSE has been at the forefront of new innovative products and exceptional user experience in all its platforms and especially its StAR Mutual Fund Platform.  BSE’s StAR Mutual Fund platform continues to be the electronic mutual fund investment platform of choice for investors across India. Investment through this platform has been growing steadily over the years.  It may be noted that the StAR MF platform witnessed a net equity inflow of Rs 1,488 crore as against the total net equity outflow in mutual fund industry  of Rs 734 crore in September 2020.  Again, even in other months during this financial year, the StAR MF platform witnessed a positive net equity inflow when the industry inflow was negative.  The total value of orders processed in the Mutual Fund Segment increased by 38% to Rs 1,43,062 crore for the half year ended September 30, 2020 from Rs 1,03,865 crore for the half year ended September 30, 2019.

The total number of orders processed has risen by 60% to 400 lakhs during the half year ended September 30, 2020 as compared to 250 lakhs during the half year ended September 30, 2019. Inspite of COVID-19, the Platform has processed a record 12.88 lakh transactions on a single day on October 12, 2020 surpassing the previous best record was 11.58 lakh transactions on April 13, 2020. The total number of SIP registered under this segment increased by 195% to 6.19 lakhs for the half year ended September 30, 2020 from 2.10 lakhs for the half year ended September 30, 2019. The total number of X-SIPs registered under this segment increased by 9% to 11.33 lakhs for the half year ended September 30, 2020 from 10.42 lakhs for the half year ended September 30, 2019.

BSE had launched BSE StAR MF app in May 2019 to enable Mutual Fund Distributors process transactions on the go.  The app has been well received by the investment community and it has processed over 10.5 lakh transactions till October 31, 2020.

BSE has continued with relentless expansion of its Mutual Fund Distributors and IFA’s network throughout the COVID-19 period till date.   BSE has appointed 11,918 IFAs / Members over last seven months taking their total to 68,587 as on October 31, 2020.  This network is over and above BSE’s 1400 members backed by over 2 lakh authorized representatives covering length and breadth of our country.

BSE’s market share in this segment for the half year ended September 30, 2020 stands at 79%.

With growing acceptance of digital financial and non-financial transactions in India, big opportunities are emerging for extending various differentiated and value added services to investors of financial products.   While BSE has already introduced value added services such as e-KYC and  looks to commence commission distribution services in the short term, various other services such as handling non-financial transactions and distribution of various other financial products look imminent in near future.

To unlock the value and realize the full potential of this business, the Company has appointed ICICI Securities Ltd. to advise on various options to unlock the value in BSE StAR MF platform.  ICICI Securities Ltd. has approached potential investors in this regard.

• Insurance Broking: BSE Ebix Insurance Broking Private Limited, a joint venture of BSE with Ebix Fincorp Exchange Pte Ltd., is growing steadily over last few months.  After launching insurance broking services for Motor Insurance products on February 7, 2020, insurance broking services for Health Insurance products and Life Insurance products have been launched on June 3, 2020 and  July 13, 2020  respectively.  As on November 5, 2020, the company has 3,762 registered Point of Sales (POS) across the country. Further, till November 5, 2020, the company has intermediated issue of 6,597 policies with premium amounting to Rs 1.83 crores. It is expected that the networks of insurance broking business and mutual fund distribution platform shall complement and leverage each other for strong growth over time.  BSE holds equity stake of 40% through its subsidiary BSE Investments Limited.
• Equity Segment:  The average daily turnover during the half year ended September 30, 2020 increased by 44 % to Rs 3,703 crore as compared to the Rs 2,563 crore during the half year ended September 30, 2019. The same is also reflected in the Company’s strong operational performance in the current financial year.
• Equity Derivatives Segment:   BSE changed the weekly expiry of contracts to Monday from Thursday in its equity derivatives segment from June 29.  Since the change in weekly expiry of equity derivative contracts from Thursday to Monday, the average daily turnover in Equity derivatives segment has grown from 7 crore for the month of June - 2020 to Rs. 1,61,548 crore the for the month of October - 2020.

Growth in turnover of equity derivatives contracts can complement growth in turnover in equity segment to improve BSE’s turnover and market share  in these Red Ocean businesses of BSE.   It is over a year since introduction of inter-operability.  It is felt that the investors can take advantage of clearing through a single clearing corporation through insisting on best price execution of all their investment orders.  Considering sufficient liquidity on the trading platform of the Company, it is felt that the best price execution of all trading and investment orders may significantly help in improvement of turnover across trading platforms of the Exchange.

• International Exchange & International Clearing Corporation: India International Exchange (IFSC), Limited (also called as “India INX”), India’s first international exchange based in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) introduced Rupee Dollar Derivatives Contracts on May 8, 2020.  The said contracts have seen strong interest by the market participants with its average daily turnover to USD 413 million in September 2020 quarter and number of contracts traded to 1,39,693 in September 2020 quarter. Average daily turnover on India INX’s trading platform for the half year ended September 30, 2020 was USD 2,514 million including significant contribution from Equity Derivatives Segment.  The Equity Derivatives Segment contributed to 90% of average daily turnover and the other Segments has contributed to 10% of average daily turnover for the half year ended September 30, 2020.  India INX is the dominant IFSC exchange in GIFT city with the market share of 80% in derivatives trading and 99% in bond listing for the half year ended September 30, 2020. During the half year ended September 30, 2020, almost all of Indian issuers of Debt Securities in the international markets have listed on India INX’s global securities market. As on date, India INX’s cumulative  turnover since inception has crossed USD 1 Trillion.  It also witnessed an all-time high turnover of over USD 5.47 billion on September 23, 2020. The previous all-time high turnover was USD 5.19 billion on September 22, 2020.

The constitution of the IFSC authority at Gandhinagar is a big step towards development of the IFSC as a major international financial hub and growth of exchange therein.

• Currency Derivatives Segment: The Currency Derivatives Segment continues to provide a very liquid platform for trading in currencies.  The average daily turnover of Currency Futures Segment for the half year ended  September 30, 2020 was Rs 8,129 crore and the average daily turnover in the Options Segment for the half year ended September 30, 2020 was Rs 11,082 crore.  BSE’s market share for the said period was 30%.
• Commodity Derivatives Segment:  BSE launched options contracts on Gold and Silver on June 1, 2020 and launched world’s only Almond future contract on June 22, 2020. On January 27, 2020 BSE has signed a licensing agreement with Intercontinental Exchange, Inc (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, for the use of the ICE Brent Index as the final settlement price for BSE’s Rupee-denominated Brent futures contract. BSE facilitates trading in derivatives of Gold, Silver, Oman crude oil, Brent crude oil, Aluminum, Zinc, Copper, Guar seed, Guar Gum, Cotton, Turmeric, Castor seed, Chana, Soy bean and Almond.

BSE created history on November 3, 2020, by becoming India's first exchange to complete deliveries of Gold under BSE-BIS India Good Delivery Standard on its commodity platform, supporting the Prime Minister's vision of "Make in India" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat". The exchange executed delivery of Gold to the tune of Rs. 1.5 crores in the 'Options in Goods' framework, marking the fifth consecutive month of deliveries at the exchange designated vault in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

BSE's seamless trading platform, integrated with a robust delivery framework for 'options in goods' contracts has proved extremely beneficial and cost efficient for jewellers, bullion dealers and other physical market participants. It empowers them to not only hedge their price risk but also avail delivery on expiry of the contract. BSE has received extremely positive response from all stakeholders for these contracts, with commodity derivatives segment registering a high of INR 5,010 crores on July 29, 2020.

The total number of members admitted in Commodity Derivatives segment is 285. The turnover in Commodity Derivatives segment for the half year ended September 30, 2020 was Rs 2,33,158 crore and highest turnover of Rs 5,118 crore recorded on August 11, 2020.  BSE is currently the second largest commodity derivatives exchange in India.

• Power Exchange: BSE along with PTC India Limited and ICICI Bank Limited had earlier filed a petition with the power market regulator, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) on September 7, 2018 for grant of license for setting up a new power exchange.  BSE has a stake of 25% as on September 30, 2020 in the proposed power exchange through its wholly owned subsidiary, BSE Investments Limited.  The receipt of approval from the CERC is awaited.
• Exemptive Relief under CFTC Regulation : The Company has received an order from CFTC granting an exemptive relief under CFTC Regulation 30.10 to designated members of BSE from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”).  Under CFTC Regulation 30.10, persons located outside the US, who are subject to comparable regulatory framework in the country in which they are located, should seek an exemption from application of certain CFTC regulations, including the requirement of registration.  The relief is based on the finding by the CFTC that the local laws and regulations in India applicable to members of BSE provide a comparable level of customer protection, including licensing standards, minimum financial requirements, and compliance procedures. The members of BSE will now be permitted to solicit and accept futures and options orders and related funds from customers located in the US for futures and options transactions on BSE without registering as a futures commission merchant.  BSE had applied for exemptive relief in a representative capacity, on behalf of its members. This would benefit the BSE members and provide the US customers increased access to Indian futures and options markets.

Commenting on financial performance for the quarter ended, Shri Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, said: “Since past few years, BSE has been a strong force in driving change in the financial markets through expansion of eco-system and digital initiatives to supporting “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” through introduction and settlement of Gold deliveries under BSE-BIS India Good Delivery Standard on its commodity platform.  The spirit of innovation and change is what drives BSE to grow continuously and contribute to Nation building without sacrificing interest of its stakeholders by continuing to explore new business opportunities and monetizing them for wealth creation.”

About BSE

BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) established in 1875, is Asia’s first & the world’s fastest Stock Exchange with a speed of 6 microseconds. BSE is India’s leading exchange group and has played a prominent role in developing the Indian capital market. BSE is a corporatized and demutualised entity, with a broad shareholder base. BSE provides an efficient and transparent market for trading in equity, debt instruments, equity derivatives, currency derivatives, interest rate derivatives, mutual funds and stock lending and borrowing.

BSE also has a dedicated platform for trading in equities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that has been highly successful. BSE provides a host of other services to capital market participants including risk management, clearing, settlement, market data services and education. It has a global reach with customers around the world and a nation-wide presence. BSE’s systems and processes are designed to safeguard market integrity, drive the growth of the Indian capital market and stimulate innovation and competition across all market segments.

Indian Clearing Corporation Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE, acts as the central counterparty to all trades executed on the BSE and other exchanges trading platform and provides full novation, guaranteeing the settlement of all bonafide trades executed. BSE Institute Ltd, another fully owned subsidiary of BSE runs one of the most respected capital market educational institutes in the country. Central Depository Services Ltd. (CDSL), associate company of BSE, is one of the two Depositories in India.

Media Contact:

Yatin Padia

022 2272 8516

yatin.padia@bseindia.com