Local bourse the JSE reported 4.2% growth in operating income underpinned by increasingly diversified revenue streams in its half-year results to June 30.

Its diversified business segments' and asset classes' year-on-year growth offset the 12% decline in equity value traded, which is the JSE’s largest market.

Specifically, the JSE Investor Services (JIS) grew by 28.9%, commodity derivatives revenue increased by 24.7%, and revenue from bonds and interest rate trading grew by 7.8% during the interim reporting period.

“These results reflect our segment and asset class diversification as well as strategic progress in growing non-trading income, which now represents 39% of total operating income,” says JSE Group CEO Leila Fourie.

The JSE posted net profit after tax of R493-million, which translated into headline earnings a share of 606c.

The group continues to be cash generative, with net cash generated from operations up 3% to R502.6-million, from R487.9-million in the 2023 interim period. Notably, these results have been achieved despite a challenging macro-economic, political and trading environment, she says.

Over the six-month period, the JSE saw continued growth in sustainability products, with eight new sustainability bonds listed, bringing the total to 76 listed sustainability bonds, as well as doubling the number of Actively Managed Exchange Traded Funds.

Additionally, the exchange is on track to complete its core market data-to-the-cloud transition by the end of the year, in line with its Information Services growth strategy.

The JSE has expanded its analytics-as-a-service capabilities to global exchanges and their ecosystems, as well as delivered Colo 2.0, which is a cloud-based colocation service that offers brokers lower trading latency.

There has also been good progress in the development of the central clearing for the bond electronic trading platform through JSE Clear.

“We are pleased with the progress we have made as we continue to structurally improve our performance over time through innovation and collaboration. The JSE continues to pursue innovation with an emphasis on data, sustainability and advances in technology,” notes Fourie.

“The JSE’s businesses remain resilient despite the fluid environment. The JIS and Information Services businesses have delivered expected growth on the back of management focus and investment.”

After a slow start at the beginning of the year, value traded in the JSE equity market started to recover in the second quarter with the trend extending into July. Higher trading activity has been reflective of positive market sentiment.

“We remain on track to deliver on our strategy to position the JSE as a diversified and sustainable exchange through next-generation technology, expanding our range of products and services, entering new markets, providing fair and transparent regulation, and strengthening our operational capabilities,” says Fourie.