SGX must brace itself for rocketing expenses

Staff costs likely to edge up.

According to DBS Vickers, higher expenses must be expected. Staff costs tend to be higher in the Apr to June quarter (final quarter to its financial year).

In addition, capex is expected to increase in the next few quarters due to licence renewals and systems-refresh as well as office relocation.

Here's more from DBS Vickers:

Sustainable securities trading values and derivative activities crucial to momentum. The sustained high volumes from penny stocks may limit upside to securities trading values while the sentiment to “sell in May and go away” could cause securities trading values to taper off. 

A further surge in derivatives could pose upside risk to our forecasts. Based on our estimates, every 10% increase in derivatives revenues could lift earnings by 4%.