ONLINE stockbroker COL Financial Group Inc. reported a growth of 8.4 percent in recurring profits to P270.1 million during the first nine months of 2015.
This was mainly due to the 10-percent increase in revenues from its Philippine operations to P540.4 million. The company’s customer base remains strong, with over 152,000 clients, up 46 percent year-on-year.
Retail-client equity aggregated to P46 billion, higher by 8.9 percent from end of September 2014, resulting to an 8.6 percent hike to P364-million commission revenues from local operations, while interest income rose by 6.6 percent to P162 million. COL retained its ranking as the eighth-largest stockbroker, based on value turnover in the country’s stock market.
Since its launch in July, COL Fund Source already had P235.5 million in assets under administration, accounting for 9.5 percent of industry-wide equity mutual fund net sales during the third quarter of this year.
More than 5,700 clients have mutual funds in their investment portfolio as of September 30, 2015.
The firm is elated by the positive results of its newly introduced mutual-fund distribution business in such a short time and despite minimal marketing initiatives, according to COL President and CEO Dino Bate. “This strengthens our conviction that we have taken the right step by entering into the fund-distribution business, and that we are better serving the needs of the Filipino investors who, we believe, deserve a richer life,” he said.
Despite the continuous expansion of its clientele and core operations, headline profits were flattish at P246.4 million in the nine-month period, as COL booked P23.7 million worth of nonrecurring taxes and related expenses.
The publicly listed company, formerly known as CitisecOnline.com Inc., has executed a pact with six asset-management companies.
These are Sun Life Asset Management, ATR KimEng Asset Management, Philam Asset Management, Philequity Management, BPI Investment Management and First Metro Asset Management.
Together, they account for 98 percent of the assets under management of the mutual-fund industry.
Most of the peso-denominated funds of these firms, namely, bond funds, balanced funds, equity funds and money-market funds, are now available for purchase on COL’s web site.