Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has reported over three-fold drop in its standalone net profit to Rs 27.04 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year due to lower income and higher expenses.
The commodity bourse,
promoted by Jignesh Shah-led Financial Technologies India (FTIL), had clocked a net profit of Rs 81.40 crore in the same period last year.
According to a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange, MCX's net income declined by 36 per cent to Rs 88.02 crore in the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 137.60 crore in the same period last year. Expenses increased to Rs 77.19 crore from Rs 57.55 crore for the period under review.
The performance of the futures commodity exchange has been affected on imposition of commodity transaction tax (CTT) since July and also due to the recent Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis at FTIL group's another bourse National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).
CTT of 0.01 per cent has been made effective from July 1 on the futures trading of non-agri commodities and processed foods. The government has exempted 23 agricultural commodities from the new tax.
During the first half of the current financial year, the standalone net profit of MCX declined by 40 per cent to Rs 87.16 crore from Rs 146.14 crore in the year-ago period.
The average daily turnover on the MCX was at Rs 37,533 crore in the first half of 2013-14.
"MCX's performance during H1 FY2014 was relatively good, considering the impact of CTT effective July 1, 2013," the exchange's Deputy Managing Director PK Singhal said in a statement.
MCX has declared an interim dividend of Rs 7 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each for the 2013-14 fiscal based on the unaudited financials for the six months period ended September 30, 2013, the filing added.
According to data maintained by the commodity markets regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC), MCX's market share was 89 per cent of the Indian commodity futures market in terms of the value of the contracts traded during H1 of the 2013-2014, it said.
In a separate filing, MCX said two shareholder
directors have been appointed in order to comply with the revised guidelines issued by the regulator FMC for the national level commodity bourses in September.
MAK Prabhu, Canara Bank General Manager as well as B V Chaubal, SBI Deputy Managing Director and Group Executive, have been appointed as shareholder directors, respectively, on the MCX Board. Their appointment would be subject to FMC approval, it added.
MCX's scrip was trading 1.12 per cent higher at Rs 486.40 in noon trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
PHOTO: Reuters 
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