COL Financial earns P130 million in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - Leading online brokerage firm COL Financial posted record earnings in the first quarter this year, amounting to P130 million or 58 percent higher than the previous level on the back of a skyrocketing stock market and a rapidly-growing customer base.

In a financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, COL said revenues rose 35 percent to P204 million, largely driven by the strength of its local operations. Revenues from the Philippines soared 45 percent to P179 million, accounting for 88 percent of the total.

Commissions, which account for 73 percent of Philippine revenues, surged 86 percent to P131 million.

The main benchmark index, PSEi, rallied by 17 percentile average daily turnover picked up by 54 percent to P8 billion.

COL added a total of 4,300 new customers during the quarter, bringing its total client base to more than 32,000 as of end March.

The value of client equity likewise went up to P22 billion from P17 billion as of end-2011.

The strong growth in COL’s client base also led to an improvement in the company’s market share from 21 percent to 23 percent, reinforcing its leaderhip position in the industry.

In value terms, COL’s rank also improved from 8th to 7th as it handled P49 billion worth of transactions.

 “Last year, we took numerous steps to improve our level of service such as upgrading our computer systems to address the growing volume of transactions, making it easier for clients to transfer funds to their accounts, and making information more accessible to our clients by employing more communication channels and accommodating more attendees in our seminars. These efforts have clearly paid off given our growing number of clients, their expanding equity positions, and the strong growth in our profits”, said COL president and chief executive officer Dino Bate.

 “Nevertheless, we will never lose focus of our mission to educate and equip Filipinos with the knowledge, the skill set and the discipline necessary to succeed as stock market investors since we believe that our profitability as a stock broker is only a consequence of our customers’ success,” Bate said.