Col Financial reports 15% drop in Q1 net earnings

Listed online brokerage firm COL Financial Group Inc. reported a 15.07 percent drop in first quarter 2013 net income, weighed by weak Hong Kong operations and the normalization of provision for income taxes.

 

In a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, COL said its first quarter net income fell by 15.07 percent to P109.98 million from P129.49 year-on-year.

 

COL's Hong Kong operations posted revenues of P15 million, down 40.5 percent from P25.2 million in the same comparable period.

 

Its effective tax rate normalized to P24.5 million from P600,000.

 

Consolidated revenues jumped by 9.3 percent to P223.2 million from P204.2 million, largely driven by Philippine operations which grew by 16.3 percent to P208.2 million from P179 million.

 

COL said it benefited from a significant increase in its client base of 55,891, up 20 percent from 46,536 as of end-2012.

 

Total customer equity improved significantly to P44.5 billion as of end-March 2013 from P34.4 billion as of end-2012.

 

The company strengthened its position in the PSE, cornering 24.3 percent from 23.4 percent of market share in terms of volume of transactions.

 

“Our efforts improving our level of service, our investments in our infrastructure and process enhancements continue to pay off as our customers continue to refer new customers and grow more comfortable and confident on investing on their own,” president and CEO Dino Bate said.

 

Formerly called CitisecOnline.com Inc., COL is primarily a securities broker-dealer which provides stock brokerage services through internet technology. — Danessa Rivera/VS, GMA News