First Metro Investment posts 60% income hike to P888.7 million

MANILA, Philippines - First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC), the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, reported a net income of P888.7 million in the first six months this year, 60 percent higher than the P556.8- million earnings in the same period a year ago, on the back of the strong performance of its business units.

“On the back of a resurgent domestic economy, buoyant local financial markets and a very successful political transition, First Metro Investment experienced elevated performance in all its strategic business units,” said FMIC president Francisco Sebastian.

FMIC’s bottom line was also boosted by a buoyant domestic stock market which rose 14 percent in the first half. This more than doubled the investment advisory group’s trading gains at P195.3 million.

FMIC’s investment banking group said fees generated from fund raising for both government and private sector, rose 37.3 percent from a year earlier to P271.3 million.

Gross earnings of its treasury unit went up 15.5 percent to P1.5 billion due to the reduction in interest costs, gains from government securities trading and the effective distribution of fixed income securities.

However, FMIC chairman Antonio Abacan expressed guarded optimism on their prospects in the second semester due to the continued uncertainty in the global economic front, financial markets, the fragile US economic recovery, the European credit crisis, and concerns over China’s property market.

“While there are grounds to be optimistic, we believe the second half will be quieter and less buoyant than the first half which has truly been busy and bullish,” he said.

But Abacan said he is more confident about the domestic economy.

“We expect the local stock market to reach new highs, interest rates to remain low and the resiliency of remittances to continue to underpin domestic demand,” he said.