COL Financial Group Inc., one of the leading online stockbrokers in the country, posted a net income of P134 million in the second quarter of 2019, up 17 percent year-on-year.
COL said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues during the period reached P275.8 million, up 10.5 percent on year, largely driven by higher interest income and trailer fees.
“This year, we focused on providing our clients with more guidance so we can help them become better investors, especially amid the tough market conditions recently,” said COL president and chief executive officer Dino Bate.
“We also expanded our ways of reaching out to our customers online, making our guidance more targeted and relevant to clients’ different investing objectives,” he added.
Interest income jumped 54 percent to P147.9 million due to higher rates and proactive cash management. COL also benefited from the increased utilization of its margin lending facility.
Meanwhile, fees from the mutual fund distribution business increased 23 percent to P4.4 million on year as the value of COL’s assets under administration rose 25 percent to P3.1 billion as of end June 2019.
Commission revenues, however, fell 14.6 percent to P123 million as COL’s share of the value of transactions in the Philippine Stock Exchange returned to 5.1 percent, after briefly climbing to as high as 9.2 percent early last year due to heightened speculation on possible third telco plays.
The drop in market share was also influenced by market dynamics after foreign flows dominated activity, specifically among big-cap issues.
COL ended the first half of the year as the fifth largest stockbroker in the PSE with a client base of 313,000 and client equity of P78.7 billion.
COL reported that the number of clients who bought mutual funds through COL Fund Source grew 22 percent on year basis to 39,880.
