MEXICO CITY -(Dow Jones)- Mexico's stock exchange operator, Bolsa Mexicana de Valores SAB (BOLSA.MX), or BMV, expects its diverse operations, including the only local derivatives market, to drive revenue growth as it tries to boost the equity side of its business, according to a top executive.

"As long as we have a diversified business we are indifferent to where the revenues come from. If they don't come from equities, they will come from derivatives or (other services)," Chairman Guillermo Prieto said during a press conference Friday following the exchange's initial public offering.

Only 23% of the exchange's sales come from the registration and maintenance fees it charges issuers of bonds and equities, and of that amount 70% is from fixed-income securities, he said.

Although Mexico enjoys one of Latin America's deepest and largest debt markets, the BMV has struggled to attract IPOs, with just four companies - two telecommunications issues and two microfinance lenders - going public in 2007.

BMV is the second Mexican firm to list shares this year, following phone company Telmex Internacional SAB (TII), which went public this week after being spun off by parent Telefonos de Mexico SAB (TMX).

Pharmaceutical company Genomma Lab Internacional SAB (LAB.MX) has filed to list its shares later this month.

The number of potential IPO candidates is limited by the concentrated nature of most Mexican industries, which are dominated by state monopolies and a handful of closely held family-owned firms that in some cases have been reluctant to open their shareholder structure to outsiders.

The exchange has stepped up its efforts to attract new issuers, with a view to bringing medium-sized firms to the market first as debt issuers and later as IPO candidates, said Prieto, who sees strong demand for debt securities in the years ahead thanks to the growth in savings held by the country's institutional investors.

The local mutual fund industry had 938 billion pesos ($90.58 billion) in assets under management at the end of April, while Mexico's compulsory retirement savings system had MXN859.08 billion in assets.

"We should attack the segment of medium-sized companies. Big companies already trade on the market," he said.

The BMV's A shares fell nearly 0.1% to close Friday at MXN16.49 after hitting an intraday high of MXN20.00.