COL Financial posts strong profits in 2013

MANILA, Philippines – Online stock brokerage firm COL Financial booked robust earnings in 2013 as more investors participated in the equities market on falling interest rates.

COL Financial reported its consolidated operating profits grew 13.8% from 2012 to P386 million, driven by a 13.8% jump in revenues to P741 million.

Revenues grew as commission jumped 16.7% to P540.5 million and interest income rose 7.9% to P198.7 million.

Operating profits from Philippine operations went up 17.2% to a record P368.9 million. The amount exceeded the previous high of P320.5 million recorded in 2011.

COL Financial said the growth in its client base was largely responsible for its performance.

The company’s client base increased 78.7% to 82,476 in 2013 from 46,166 in 2012. Client equity handled by the company also increased significantly, exceeding the US$1-billion mark to P47.9 billion (US$1.07 billion) from P34.4 billion in 2012.

The strong growth in COL Financial’s client base allowed it to maintain its position as the number one stockbroker in terms of volume of transactions, with a market share of 23.1%.

“We are pleased to announce another record earnings result for 2013. More importantly, we are glad to see the continuous expansion of our client base and their investments in the Philippine Stock Exchange. At COL, we believe that our profitability is only a consequence of our client’s success,” said President and CEO Dino Bate.

Net profit for the year was flat at P303.6 million, although this was only due to the normalization of the company’s effective tax rate from 9.8% in 2012 to 21.3% in 2013. Nevertheless, return on average equity remained very healthy at 23.6%.

“One of our major objectives going forward is to expand our products and services so that we can better address the needs of our existing clients and other Filipino investors,” noted Bate. “This makes us very excited about our future.”

Last December, COL Financial signed a memorandum of agreement with iRemit. This will make it easier for overseas Filipinos to buy Philippine stocks online through the company’s platform.

In January, it signed a memorandum of agreement with the country’s top asset management companies. This will allow COL Financial to address the needs of more Filipino investors as clients will eventually be able to purchase professionally managed funds and other financial products outside of equities through the company’s website. – Rappler.com