COL Revenues Up 6%

Online stockbroker CitisecOnline (PSE: COL) has reported total revenues of PhP490 million for 2010, up 6% from 2009, driven by the doubling of both its customer base to 15,510 and customer assets to PhP12 billion. The company has also approved a 40-centavo cash dividend per share during its Annual Stockholders’ meeting held March 31. The cash dividend will be paid to all its shareholders, as of ex-date of April 11, payable on April 29.

“For the first time in our company’s history, the Philippine operations accounted for 60% of total revenues; up significantly from only an average of 35% in the past two years,” said Dino Bate, President, COL. Philippine Commission revenues grew by 108% YoY and interest income by 83% YoY, leading to a 103% jump in Philippine revenues.

For the full year, consolidated net income remained flat at PhP258 million, primarily due to the net operating leverage from COL’s wholly owned subsidiary CitisecOnline.com HK Ltd. Operating profit from the Hong Kong segment fell by 41.2% to PhP166 million as commission revenues dropped by 37.8% to PhP197.8 million, due to the weak performance of the Chinese market and the depreciation of the HK dollar. “Although our Hong Kong operations weakened last year, it remained profitable, since our focus on managing costs enabled us to withstand the steep drop in revenues. Going forward, Hong Kong will remain an important business segment, helping us diversify our sources of earnings,” said Bate.

COL’s return on equity of 24.9% remained significantly higher than the 5.5% average of regional stock brokerages. As of end 2010, COL had total assets of PhP2.5 billion and total stockholder’s equity of PhP1.1 billion.

Anticipating stronger results in 2011, COL intends to boost its business through its Private Client and Institutional Group, aimed at targeting high net worth individuals and institutions through a team of Investment Advisors. “In addition, we will focus on creating a High Tech, High Touch environment to strengthen our personal relationships with our customers within the COL platform as we leverage on the use of technology and innovation. We aim to apply the best of possible technology while institutionalizing the best personalized customer care throughout the entire organization,” Bate added.

In terms of market share, COL sustained its #1 position among the brokers in the PSE in terms of the number of transactions traded, having increased its share from 13% to 17% in 2010.