CitisecOnline swings to P14-M net profit in first quarter

Financial services firm CitisecOnline posted a net income of P14 million in the first quarter this year, a reversal of the P1.3 million loss incurred in the previous year.

CitisecOnline president and chief executive officer Conrado Bate said the income growth was due to the increase in trading activity, portfolio size, and customer base due to their aggressive marketing and investor educational campaigns, as well as the robust performance of the local stock market.

Revenues grew more than four-fold to P36.5 million, mainly due to a surge in commission revenues which increased 20 times over the same period a year earlier.

The company’s expenses, on the other hand, went up 88 percent, reflective of the company’s capital expenditures in technology and communications, as well as professional fees, personnel and advertising costs, given the demands of its growing business.

CitisecOnline approved an annual regular cash dividend of 20 percent of its parent company’s net earnings. It also declared a special cash dividend of a half centavo per share due to the company’s turnaround performance making the cash dividend 30 percent of net earnings for this year.

The record date of both the regular and special cash dividends is on May 11, 2007, payable on June 6.

Last year, CitisecOnline posted a net profit of P34.32 million as against a net loss of P2.04 million in 2005, mainly driven by higher commission and interest income and gain on financial assets.

Consolidated revenues surged 151.5 percent to P94.23 million from only P37.5 million.

CitisecOnline has been actively trading in the Philippine Stock Exchange since 1999. It launched its online trading services in 2005.

The company’s vision is to be the leading online financial services provider in Asia, giving customers access to global markets and products. It hopes to achieve this by empowering retail customers with online tools and market information to help them make well-informed investment decisions and achieve financial independence.

CitisecOnline owns CitisecOnline.com Hong Kong Ltd., a member of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which is currently developing an online platform for the Hong Kong and China markets.