JOHANNESBURG – Stock exchange operator JSE Limited, plans a cost-cutting programme, including around 60 job cuts, to produce savings of about 170 million rand ($12.71 million) a year from 2019 onwards, it said on Friday.
The JSE, which employs around 430 staff, would also make cuts to its technology operating expenditure, it said.
JSE Limited chief executive Nicky Newton-King said South Africa’s low economic growth and downgrades to the country’s credit rating had negatively affected financial market activity this year.
South Africa entered a recession for the first time in eight years, data showed last month, and both unemployment and business sentiment hover near multi-year lows.
Credit rating agencies Fitch and S&P Global Ratings in April downgraded the country’s debt to below investment grade after a cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma.
Newton-King also said the cost-cutting measures were in response to changes in the way global securities exchanges and other players in the financial services industry operate in response to regulatory and technology developments.
Founded in 1887 as part of the South African gold rush, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is ranked among the 20 largest stock exchanges globally and carries the primary listings of Naspers, Sasol and MTN.
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