No clarity on IPO timeline yet, NSE management to analysts

The company's management said that the demand for colocation has gone up and that they plan to add new data centre capacity in or around Mumbai, said a Jefferies report

National Stock Exchange said that it hasn't received any clarity on its initial public offer (IPO) timeline, a report from the brokerage Jefferies said.

In December 2023, the market regulator had laid down certain conditions before it gave the go-ahead for the exchange's public listing. A CNBC TV-18 report said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had asked the NSE to be glitch-free for a year, improve its corporate governance and resolve pending legal matters.

NSE Q3 net profit rises 8% to Rs 1,975 crore, revenue up 25%

In a report released after an earnings call with NSE, Jefferies' brokerage said that the exchange's management "dismissed media reports and indicated that it has not received any clarity on timelines".

The exchange reported revenue growth of 25 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in the quarter ended December led by standalone growth of 20 percent YoY and a 1.3x YoY jump in clearing income.

Income from transaction charges and co-location delivered a growth of 18 percent YoY and 41 percent YoY, respectively. EBITDA was up by just 2 percent YoY due to higher settlement-guarantee fund (SGF) contribution (Rs 56o crore), however, adjusted for that, EBITDA was up 27 percent YoY, wrote the brokerage's analysts. EBITDA margins (excluding SGF) expanded by more than 30 bps YoY to around 80 percent.

The management said that the exchange is on track to double its SGF from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore and will continue to contribute Rs 500 crore per quarter.

On the competitive landscape, the management said that the entry of new players has not affected the growth of derivatives volume at NSE and overall sector volumes have grown.

The company's management said that the demand for colocation has gone up and that they plan to add new data centre capacity in or around Mumbai, after getting Sebi's approval. They said that co-location income depends on multiple factors such as the size of data pipes offered and number of pipes and so on.