Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEx), the only stock market operator in Hong Kong, announced Wednesday a 26-percent drop in first-half net profit due to lower average daily turnover in the exchange.

The blue-chip company said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 2.20 billion HK dollars (284 million U.S. dollars), down from 2.97 billion a year earlier.

However, the company's net profits jumped 64 percent to 13 billion HK dollars in the second quarter of the year over the previous quarter.

"In the second quarter, we saw marked increase in market activity which appears to be driven by better sentiment and ample liquidity rather than improvement in economic fundamentals," said Paul Chow, chief executive of HKEx.

He said that fund-rasing activities in the second quarter gained momentum with total equity funds raised some 11 times that of the first quarter.

In the first six months, the average daily turnover on the bourse fell 33 percent to 58.31 billion HK dollars year-on-year. But in the second quarter, the average daily turnover jumped to 71.7 billion HK dollars, down merely 6 percent from the same period last year.

The stock exchange operator declared a first-half dividend of 1. 84 HK dollars, down from 2.49 dollars last year.

By the end of June, 1,103 and 170 companies had been listed on the Main Board and the Growth Enterprise Market of HKEx, respectively, with a total market capitalization of about 14,147.6 billion HK dollars.

Hong Kong Exchanges generates revenue from fees and tariffs on securities, options and derivatives trading, as well as from listing fees, investment income, and clearing and settlement fees. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.743 HK dollars)

Source: Xinhua