OVER 81 PCT OF PLCS ON BURSA MALAYSIA ARE SHARIAH-COMPLIANT -- CHAIRMAN

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- Some 820 companies or 81.3 per cent of the total 1,009 public-listed companies (PLCs) on Bursa Malaysia are Shariah-compliant as at May 27, 2024, said Bursa Malaysia Bhd chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar.

He said the exchange has facilitated the growth in the Islamic capital market through its end-to-end Shariah-compliant trade, clearing and settlement platform named Bursa Malaysia-i.

"Anyone can trade in any Shariah-compliant stocks in a truly Shariah-compliant manner, from ordering, trading,  settlement, and depository," he said during a panel session entitled "Fostering Finance at Scale through Capital Markets" at the Global Forum on Islamic Economics and Finance (GFIEF) here, today.

Abdul Wahid also noted that the size of Malaysia's Islamic capital market accounted for 63 per cent or RM2.5 trillion of the total size of the Malaysian capital market of RM3.95 trillion as of the end of March 2024.

"The Islamic capital market has progressed well and seen significant growth over the years," he said.

According to Abdul Wahid, the equity market continued to grow post-COVID with market capitalisation surpassing RM2 trillion and average daily trading value growing by 49.6 per cent year-to-date on May 27, 2024, to RM3.07 billion.

"On May 7 we crossed the benchmark RM2 trillion mark (in market capitalisation) and as of yesterday we closed at RM2.05 trillion, which is about a 14 per cent increase compared to the end of last year," he said.

In terms of new listings or initial public offerings (IPOs), Abdul Wahid noted that up to May 27, the exchange saw a total of 17 new listings with a total of RM2 billion amount raised, with another two companies successfully listed to date, bringing the total to 19 companies.

"Therefore we are en route to have the highest number of companies listed this year, exceeding the target of 40 companies," he added.

-- BERNAMA