ASX profits slump as ASIC inquiry costs bite

ASX has taken a profit hit due to skyrocketing expenses in FY26, thanks to one-off costs associated with the ASIC inquiry.

Statutory net profit was down 3.5% to $484.9 million. Total expenses were up 21.1% in the period to $557 million, including $51.1 million associated with the penalty and legal costs associated with the settlement of ASIC legal proceedings.

Other drivers of total expenses included the design and ongoing implementation of the Accelerate program; additional capability to support key technology platforms transitioning into operation; and higher depreciation and amortisation as technology projects go-live.

"It has been a highly consequential year for ASX in FY26. In the past 12 months we navigated significant external scrutiny, while continuing to operate critical market infrastructure through an exceptionally active and volatile period for markets," ASX interim chief executive Darren Yip said.

"Against that backdrop, we continued to modernise our technology, introduce new products and serve our customers."

Yip said despite the profit slump, all of ASX's business units delivered revenue growth in FY26, contributing to a 13.3% increase resulting in operating revenue of $1.25 billion.

"Our business benefitted from global volatility which drove an increase in markets activity and demand for post trade services. In Listings, we saw the strongest year since FY22 with 100 new entities listed," Yip said.

"New listings brought more than $32.6 billion in quoted market capitalisation to ASX, representing growth of 85.5% year-on-year. We also saw strong demand for equities and derivatives data which contributed to the 8.0% increase in revenue for our Technology & Data division."

Yip added he was pleased to have achieved the successful delivery of the CHESS Release 1.

"This was an important milestone in strengthening the foundations of Australia's post-trade infrastructure, upgrading clearing services to a modern, secure and resilient platform designed to scale for higher trading volumes," he said.

"Just as importantly, it has established the foundational enterprise technology platforms, including cloud, data and integration capabilities, that provide a sustainable base for future upgrades and broader technology delivery across ASX."

Yip acknowledged the "significant reputational challenges" the ASX faced during FY26 but said the market operator was focused on looking ahead.

"The ASIC Inquiry into ASX was a landmark process and we have taken those findings seriously. We recognise the important role we play as a steward of critical market infrastructure, and our focus is now firmly on making changes to strengthen ASX," Yip said.

"Our elevated expense profile reflects the investment needed to deliver a more resilient ASX that will support our customers and shape tomorrow's markets. Our capex program is mainly informed by our technology modernisation roadmap and capex guidance for FY27 and FY28 is unchanged, with our FY27 opex guidance also unchanged.

"FY26 has been a year of resilience, delivery and reset for ASX. Meaningful progress has been made in our transformation and there is more to do. ASX enters FY27 with clearer priorities, stronger foundations and a disciplined focus on execution."

ASX also announced a fully franked final dividend of 104.7 cents per share, bringing total dividends for FY26 to 206.5 cents per share fully franked.