Singapore Exchange lifts dividend 52% on record annual revenue

Singapore Exchange reported record full-year revenue and earnings for its 2026 financial year, with net revenue rising 13.9 percent to more than 1.5 billion Singapore dollars, according to results its executives presented at a briefing on August 6. Adjusted net profit rose 24.6 percent from the previous year. The exchange operator drew 21 new listings during the period, and those offerings raised 3.2 billion dollars, Fortune reported. Chief executive Loh Boon Chye and chief financial officer Daniel Koh delivered the figures.

The listings marked the largest year-over-year change in the results. The six companies that listed in the prior financial year raised a combined 20 million dollars, Fortune reported, compared with the 3.2 billion dollars raised by this year's 21 debutants. A separate summary of SGX's results slides by Investing.com put the amount raised at more than 4 billion dollars, and described a listing pipeline spanning digital infrastructure, healthcare and consumer companies. The two accounts gave different totals for funds raised.

Where the revenue grew

Cash equities was the strongest-performing segment, with net revenue up 28 percent, according to the earnings call summarized by Investing.com. Securities daily average value rose 35 percent to its highest level in 18 years, which the company attributed to stronger retail participation, broader institutional interest and renewed activity in small and mid-cap stocks. Platform and other revenue rose 7 percent. Reported group net profit after tax rose 7.8 percent, while adjusted net profit after tax rose 24.6 percent, the summary said.

Derivatives remained a source of growth. SGX's listed foreign exchange franchise and commodity contracts posted record volumes, while equity derivatives held steady against a high base from the prior year, according to the earnings call summary. Equity derivatives revenue stayed flat despite the higher volumes, which management attributed to currency effects and a shift toward volumetric pricing arrangements that carry lower per-unit clearing fees. The over-the-counter foreign exchange platform recorded average daily volume of 190 billion dollars, a 36 percent compound annual growth rate from the 2023 financial year.

We achieved a milestone year, delivering our highest ever full year revenue and earnings. This strong performance was built on structural market changes and focused execution.

Adjusted net profit margin expanded by 4.4 percentage points and adjusted operating profit margin by 3.1 percentage points, according to the earnings call summary. Group expenses on an adjusted basis rose 5.5 percent. Revenue has nearly doubled over a decade, from just over 800 million Singapore dollars in the 2016 financial year to more than 1.5 billion in FY2026, the summary said. The company framed the results as the product of a multi-asset diversification strategy it has pursued for years.

The Nasdaq bridge

At the center of the year's changes is a dual-listing partnership with the U.S. exchange Nasdaq, which allows companies to raise capital on both exchanges at once using a single set of offering documents, Fortune reported. The platform, called the Global Listing Board, went live on June 29 after Singapore's parliament passed a bill establishing a framework for dual-listing arrangements. SGX said several companies have begun preparing to list on the board. As of the briefing, no firm had confirmed plans to do so.

The board follows a listing in September 2025 that the industry treated as a precedent. AvePoint, a data security firm headquartered in New Jersey, completed a 260 million Singapore dollar offering registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and dual-listed on the SGX Mainboard and Nasdaq, according to analysis published by OANDA. OANDA described the deal as first of its kind because the SEC-registered offering was priced in Singapore dollars and listed and settled exclusively on the SGX-ST, ahead of the board's formal launch.

The turnaround followed a coordinated push by regulators. The Monetary Authority of Singapore's Equity Market Development Plan simplified listing requirements, reduced uncertainty for potential issuers and introduced tax incentives for new listings by corporate and fund managers, according to OANDA. The authority also expanded its Grant for Equity Market Singapore scheme, committing 50 million Singapore dollars to strengthen equity research, especially for under-researched small and mid-cap companies. OANDA said the market had struggled across 2024 and into 2025 amid delistings and few new IPOs.

What the payout says

SGX raised its total dividend 52 percent, to 0.57 Singapore dollars per share from 0.375 the previous year, according to a summary of its results slides by Investing.com. Management said it plans quarterly increases of 0.25 cents per share through the 2028 financial year, projecting a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent in dividends. The FY2026 special dividend and the fourth-quarter dividend of 11.5 cents per share are subject to shareholder approval at the annual meeting on October 23.

Global investors are seeking cross-asset solutions and more efficient ways to manage their risk.

The company expects higher spending in the year ahead. For the 2027 financial year, SGX projected expenses to rise 6 to 8 percent, driven mainly by technology and talent, according to the slides summary. Capital expenditure is projected at about 100 million dollars, up from 94 million in FY2026. The company said it would direct investment toward product work including its foreign exchange offerings and gold futures, platform modernization with new trading systems, and a data center upgrade by mid-2027.

Reading the IPO rebound

SGX remains smaller than its regional peer, the Hong Kong exchange, and is repositioning itself as a hub for capital markets, according to OANDA. The 2026 figures give Singapore a concrete result to show companies weighing where to list amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty. SGX management said it was hopeful that companies' early preparations would translate into actual listings during the remainder of the year, Fortune reported. No firm had confirmed such plans as of the briefing.

Not all of the new listings have traded well. During the earnings call, analysts asked about mixed IPO performance and a third tranche of fund managers under an equity development program, according to the Investing.com transcript. Management acknowledged that some post-listing performance had been uneven and that it could affect investor confidence. The transcript did not identify which listings had lagged, nor did it quantify the effect the company described on confidence.

Trading in some products grew sharply over the year. Activity in exchange-traded funds more than doubled from prior levels, and trading in Singapore Depositary Receipts rose to more than five times prior levels, according to the results slides summarized by Investing.com. The company also extended depositary receipts to include U.S.-listed stocks and cross-listed exchange-traded funds. A new contract suite, expected by the end of calendar 2026, is meant to extend the product range beyond Asia into global markets and themes.

Retail involvement grew alongside institutional interest. SGX said improvements in market participation came in part through partnerships with brokers and remisiers, the licensed agents who take retail orders in Singapore, according to the slides summary. The rise in securities daily average value to an 18-year high rested on that broader participation and on renewed activity in smaller stocks, the earnings call summary said. The foreign exchange platform was the fastest-growing exchange-backed over-the-counter foreign exchange platform during the year, the summary added.

Where the numbers stand

SGX shares last traded at 37.52 dollars, near the top of a 52-week range of 24.36 to 38.64 dollars, according to the results slides summary. Reported group net profit after tax rose 7.8 percent year over year, a smaller gain than the 24.6 percent increase in adjusted net profit that the company highlighted, according to the earnings call summary. Shareholders will vote on the special dividend and the fourth-quarter dividend at the annual meeting scheduled for October 23.

SGX framed the 2026 results as the outcome of structural changes and execution rather than a one-off, and said it would keep spending on technology and talent in the year ahead. Koh called it a milestone year, the highest full-year revenue and earnings in the company's history. The company said it expected firms preparing for the Global Listing Board to translate into listings later in the year, though none had committed as of the briefing on August 6.