ATR KimEng posts 77% profit hike

MANILA, Philippines - Financial services conglomerate ATR KimEng Financial Corp. reported a 77-percent increase in consolidated net income in the first nine months this year to P137 million.

Total assets increased seven percent to P4.7 billion, while total liabilities expanded five percent to P2.1 billion. Actual borrowing declined significantly by 26 percent to P235 million as the group carried on with deleveraging efforts.

ATR KimEng Financial Corp. is a listed diversified financial services company, specializing in capital markets, insurance, real estate and other investments.

Renato Leveriza Jr., the company’s executive vice president, attributed the income growth to revenues growing by P188 million while expenditures slowed.

“Our three-quarter results reflect the country’s overall economic recovery. We hope to sustain this upward trend to the end of 2009 and through 2010,” he said.

As a result of its profitable operations, ATR Kim-Eng has rewarded its stakeholders through a cash dividend worth P79.1 million. It declared a cash dividend of P0.08 per share coming from its unrestricted retained earnings.

Subsidiaries AsianLife & General Assurance Corp. and AsianLife Financial Assurance Corp. contributed insurance revenues worth P977 million, from P726 million the previous year.

Insurance revenue accounted for 63 percent of total revenues compared to 54 percent last year.

Commission income, coming mostly from stock brokerage firm ATR KimEng Securities, increased 13 percent to P306 million on increased volumes of trade given the recovery in the local equity market.

Commission income made up 20 percent of total revenues for the first nine months.

Advisory and underwriting fees from ATR Kim-Eng Capital Partners Inc. was just under P7 million as the initial public offerings (IPOs) market remained in limbo. Nonetheless, interest income increased 97 percent to P120 million while real estate revenue only totaled P15 million this year.

Last September, ATR KimEng Capital Partners acquired the mutual fund business of Deutsche Bank AG in the Philippines.

Acquired were the DWS Deutsche Philippine Equity Fund Inc. for P50 million and DWS Deutsche Philippine Fixed-Income Fund Inc. for P25 million.

The mutual funds were then transferred to The Mutual Fund Management Company of the Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of ATRKE Capital and part of the ATR KimEng Asset Management Group.