COL Profits Up 82% on Strength of PH Stock Market

Pasig–(PHStocks)–COL Financial Group Inc. (PSE: COL) delivered strong growth during the first quarter of the year with profits almost doubling to PhP107.3 million from PhP58.8 million during the same period last year.

Revenues jumped by 48.6% to PhP213.8 million. This was driven by the 66.1% increase in commissions and the 18.9% expansion in interest income.

COL’s noteworthy revenue numbers for the first quarter is largely attributable to the strong performance of the Philippine stock market and the significant growth of its client base. During the first quarter of 2015, the PSEi increased by 9.8% compared to its end-2014 level to close at a new record high of 7,940.49. Trading activity also picked up significantly in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), with average daily turnover rising by 47.5% year-on-year to PhP10.9 billion.

COL’s client base also continued to expand. As of end March 2015, COL had 126,396 clients, up 13,569 or 12% from its end 2014 level of 112,827.

Due to the significant growth of its client base and their trading activity, COL’s market share in terms of value turnover in the PSE improved from 3.3% during 1Q14 and 4.1% during the whole of 2014 to 4.3% during 1Q15. Market share in terms of local value traded also increased from 7.5% during 1Q14 and 8.2% during the whole of 2014 to 8.4% during 1Q15.

COL likewise maintained its position as the number one stock broker in terms of volume of transactions as it handled a total of 1.4 Mil trades in the PSE. This is equivalent to 21.1% of the volume of transactions during the period in review.

Meanwhile, interest income grew by 18.9% to Php57.5 Mil largely due to the continuous increase in COL’s cash position. As of end March 2015, COL’s cash position reached a new record high of Php5.0Bil. As a result, COL’s asset base expanded by 14.0% to Php7.3 Bil, further strengthening its ability to address the needs of its growing client base.

Despite the significant increase in revenues, fixed operating expenses during 1Q15 was flat at Php46.5 Mil. This allowed operating profits to grow by 76.2%, faster than the 48.6% increase in revenues.

“We are very pleased with our strong first quarter 2015 results. This we believe is a testament to the growing trust of Filipino investors in COL as their partner in creating wealth,” said COL President and CEO Dino Bate.

“The remaining part of 2015 should remain exciting as we will soon start our fund distribution business. This new service will allow us to address the needs of more Filipino investors, particularly those who either do not have the time to actively manage their investments, are more conservative, or are looking to diversify their portfolios outside of stocks,” he added

COL has already signed a Memorandum of Agreement with six asset management companies namely Sun Life Asset Management, ATR KimEng Asset Management, Philam Asset Management, Philequity Management, BPI Investment Management, and First Metro Asset Management. The six asset management companies together account for 92.1% of the assets under management of the mutual fund industry. All the peso denominated funds of the six asset management companies, namely bond funds, balanced funds, equity funds, and money market funds, will be available for purchase in COL’s website once the fund distribution business is launched later this year.