BSE Focuses On Institutional Investor Inflow After 'First Of Its Kind' Quarterly Numbers In 150 Years

The BSE reported a 9% jump in net profit for the first quarter, reaching Rs 539.41 crore and Sundararaman Ramamurthy, the managing director and chief executive officer of BSE Ltd, described the numbers as "very good and the first of its kind in the last 150 years of BSE."

In a conversation with NDTV Profit on Monday, Ramamurthy noted that he is optimistic on the exchange's outlook, linking potential growth to India's broader economic trajectory.

"If our economy is going to be $30-35 trillion, the market cap will be $50-55 trillion, so there are more corporates, listings, mutual funds, stability and inflow of capital so growth is possible," he said.

Addressing the lack of institutional investor participation, he acknowledges a "regulatory stumbling block," but Ramamurthy brings it back to the company's efforts to improve the issue.

"The exchange worked with regulators to introduce a common contract to solve issues with multiple contract notes and ensure better price execution. We are helping the brokers with smart radar routing," he noted, explaining that the goal is to get the best price across multiple venues. He also added that this is nothing new but sheerly an effort to match the exchange with the benchmarks in the global markets.

Addressing the regulatory environment, Ramamurthy referred to it as "regulatory evolution" rather than an "overhang," emphasising that changes are a continuous process and are implemented "in the interest of investors and their protection."

Ramamurthy also explained the significant margin growth, stating that "exchanges are a fixed cost game and once the topline grows beyond threshold, this goes into bottom line and stays there." Further, he also noted that for BSE, the focus is not on protecting margins but on having a proper diversified product mix.