* Want to list before considering any merger - TSE exec
* Need to make profit for 2 yrs before listing - exec
* Could consider alliances in meantime - exec
TOKYO, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The closely-held Tokyo Stock Exchange wants to boost profitability enough to go public before considering any merger with domestic rival, the Osaka Securities Exchange, a senior executive at the bourse said.
A wave of mergers and alliances among exchanges has focused attention on how the TSE will compete, with bourses such as the Singapore Exchange and Australia's ASX looking to grow bigger by combining operations.
Merger talks are out of the question until the TSE is publicly traded, the executive in charge of strategy at the bourse told Reuters in an interview, and it must make a profit for at least the next two financial years in order to meet its own listing rules.
"The first thing is to gain strength," Koichiro Miyahara said on Wednesday. "We run the stock exchange so if we are going to go public we have to make sure it's a first class listing."
With the average daily traded value of shares at around 1.5 trillion yen ($18.14 billion), the TSE ranks as one of the world's biggest exchanges. But if it listed, its market value would likely be much lower than that of better performing exchanges such as those in Hong Kong or Germany, Miyahara said.
With stock prices in Japan depressed and trading volumes down, the TSE has to find new ways to generate income, including fees from public offerings and revenue from market data, he continued.
In the meantime the TSE will explore alliances with other exchanges around the world in order to bolster it business, Miyahara said, but declined to give details.
The exchange's CEO, Atsushi Saito, has said it is looking for an alliance with a high growth bourse outside Asia and wants an agreement that could include listing the top 200 stocks on the TSE on a partner exchange. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Joseph Radford)