COL Financial profit slides 31%

MANILA, Philippines - Leading online stockbroker COL Financial Group Inc. said its first half profit fell 31 percent despite the resurgence in its second quarter earnings.

In a report, COL said its net income in the first half stood at P153.3 million, nearly a third lower from P222.25 million posted a year ago.

The company attributed its lower earnings during the six-month period to the weak trading activity during the first quarter of the year as well as to the high base in 2013.

During the first quarter, COL reported that average daily value turnover dropped 27.9 percent year-on-year to P7.4 billion while average daily value turnover of local investors fell even more significantly by 34.6 percent.

The brokerage firm added that average daily turnover during the first half of 2013 reached a record of P11.5 billion as the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) hit an all-time high of 7,392.2 in May of that year.

For the April to June period alone, COL’s profits surged 60.6 percent quarter-on-quarter to P94.5 million from P58.8 million as it benefited from the recovery of the Philippine stock market.

However, the rebound in the second quarter was not enough to offset the slowdown in the January to March period.

 “We are pleased to announce that our profits for the second quarter recovered. However, we are more excited about the new service that we will soon be able to provide Filipino investors,” said COL president and CEO Dino Bate.

The company said COL clients can start accessing various professionally managed funds through its website before the year ends, a move aimed at encouraging more Filipinos to invest as buying funds become more convenient.

 “By making funds accessible online, we will also be able to address the needs of more Filipino investors, particularly those who do not have the time to actively manage their investments and those that are looking to diversify their portfolio through fixed income investments,” Bate said.