NZX revenue dipped 1.7 per cent in the first three months of the year as sales from the stock market operator's recently overhauled agri division slumped by almost a third.
Revenue fell to $17.7 million in three months ended March 31 from $18m a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. Its agri division was the only unit to post a decline in revenue, falling 30 per cent to $2.1m. Agri was a drag on NZX last year, prompting the stock market operator to quit its Clear Grain Exchange and scale back its rural publications.
NZX's central markets division posted a 3.7 per cent increase in revenue to $12.3m while its burgeoning funds management business boosted sales 5.1 per cent to $3.4m.
Last month the stock market operator appointed Mark Peterson as chief executive and tasked him with growing the business to compete more effectively on the domestic and international fronts. Peterson had been acting CEO since Tim Bennett departed at the end of last year, and was previously NZX's head of markets.
NZX is forecasting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between $27m and $30m in calendar 2017, depending on the level of initial public offerings, secondary capital raisings, and trading and clearing volumes across its various markets. That would be up from $22.5m last year.
