Singapore Exchange - Phillip Securities 2021-01-25: High Noon

SINGAPORE EXCHANGE LIMITED (SGX:S68)

Singapore Exchange - High Noon

SGX (SGX:S68)'s 1HFY21 (Jul 2020 to Dec 2020) revenue in line but earnings beat our estimate by 12% on lower operating expenses.
FICC and DCI grew 17% and 35% y-o-y, led by newly-acquired businesses, BidFX and Scientific Beta, respectively.
Average fee per contract for equity derivatives fell from S$1.34 to S$1.27 due to fee holiday during transition from expiring MSCI products to FTSE replacements.
Laid out pipeline for growth, which includes expanding suite of products with FTSE Russell and developing indices under Scientific Beta to capture new investment trends.

Maintain ACCUMULATE on SGX with higher target price of S$11.01, from S$9.45. SGX's FY21e earnings estimate raised by 8% to incorporate full-year expense guidance of S$535-545mn. Now peg our target price at 5-year historical average of 22.3x P/E vs -1 standard deviation previously, in view of its stronger growth prospects.

BidFX and Scientific Beta contributed S$34mn in revenue, accounting for 80% of 1HFY21 revenue growth. Consequently, FICC and DCI grew 17% and 35% y-o-y respectively to lift total revenue by 9% y-o-y. Without which, revenue would have grown 2% y-o-y.
Both businesses will remain growth engines for SGX, with opportunities from cross-selling and new client acquisitions on the back of customer access to an enlarged trading network.

This segment’s revenue grew 23% y-o-y to S$111.5mn, with SDAV increasing 19% y-o-y to S$1.3bn. Retail market participation increased, contributing positively to trading volumes and clearing margins.

Despite volume growth of 4%, revenue here declined 9% y-o-y as SGX had introduced a fee holiday for the liquidity transition from expiring MSCI products to new FTSE replacements. Fee per contract fell from S$1.32 to S$1.27 but is expected to normalise as introductory fees taper off in the subsequent two quarters.

Fixed-income listing revenue was up 4% y-o-y to S$5.1mn but equity-listing revenue fell 5% y-o-y to S$17.0mn as macroeconomic conditions remained weak for capital-raising. We expect listing revenue to improve as the economic outlook brightens.

SGX remains committed to expanding its suite of products through strategic partnerships and new product development for newly-acquired businesses.
SGX has signed an MOU with the China Central Depository and Clearing to promote Singapore’s and China’s bond markets. It has also teamed up with NASDAQ to be its exclusive partner for its sustainable bond network initiative. On top of that, SGX is leveraging Scientific Beta’s research pedagogy to launch smart investing products centered on new investment trends in ESG.

The success of its transition from MSCI Taiwan equity derivative contracts to its FTSE replacement exhibits SGX’s positive relationships with partners and customers that can facilitate future product launches.

See SGX Share Price; SGX Target Price; SGX Analyst Reports; SGX Dividend History; SGX Announcements; SGX Latest News. Maintain ACCUMULATE with a higher target price of S$11.01, up from S$9.45, after we raise SGX's FY21 earnings estimate by 8% to incorporate full-year expense guidance of S$535-545mn.
Our target price is now pegged to its historical 5-year mean of 23x P/E. We adjusted our P/E from 1 standard deviation below its 5-year historical average to capture its longer-term prospects. SGX is trading at 22.9x P/E, which remains below the average of 30.7x for regional peers.

Tay Wee Kuang Phillip Securities Research | https://www.stocksbnb.com/ 2021-01-25

SGX Stock Analyst Report ACCUMULATE MAINTAIN ACCUMULATE 11.01 UP 9.450