KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia Bhd is cautiously optimistic of its financial performance for the second half of the year, largely influenced by the economic uncertainties in Europe and the United States.

Chief Executive Officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said first half performance was impressive with the listing of the world's second largest initial public offering (IPO), Felda Global Ventures Bhd, playing a major factor.

"Based on the first half performance, we hope the momentum will continue given the fact that the market continues to show some recovery signals.

"But we are proud that our first half financial performance is relatively stronger than other exchanges in the region," he told a press conference today.

Tajuddin added that Bursa Malaysia was hopeful that Malaysia's strong economic fundamentals coupled with various government initiatives would, to some extent, mitigate the adverse impact of the global economic weakness, thus sustaining the momentum of Bursa's securities market.

He said the local bourse grew in tandem with the growth of listed companies, of which, more than 40 per cent of the top 30 FBM KLCI companies came from abroad.

"That means, we have to keep in mind what is happening out there. The companies grow, we also grow. They slow down, that means we have to slow down," he added.

Bursa Malaysia's pre-tax profit for the first six months of the year rose to RM111.6 million from RM107.6 million registered in the same period last year.

Revenue, however, declined to RM216.5 million from RM217.2 million recorded previously while total operating revenue fell two per cent to RM197.2 million while operating expenses decreased four per cent to RM104.90 million.

Tajuddin said Malaysia came second behind Hong Kong with RM11.1 billion raised from IPOs in the first six months of the year.

He added the local bourse had undertaken a number of initiatives to make the securities and derivatives markets more vibrant and attractive, amid, the global challenges.

"We are committed to invest in developmental initiatives in line with our strategic blueprint to create a more facilitative trading environment, enhance product development, improve market framework and internationalise the market.

"In view of the rapid globalisation and competition faced by exchanges around the world, we are taking steps to transform ourselves to be a competitive market place in Asia," Tajuddin said.

He said the exchange was currently in talks with other bourses in the region for technology knowledge transfer for the replacement of Bursa Trading System (BTS).

"We are talking to several exchanges, with the key focus on the BTS replacement, as we want the exchange to grow and for that purpose, it must be equipped with technology.

"It can be done either at the end of this year or next year," he said.