COL Financial Group Inc., a listed provider of online stock brokerage services, said Friday net income in the first quarter surged 76 percent to P158.3 million, its effective cash management strategy allowing it to overcome the fall in commission revenue from its core business.
The company said commission revenue from stock brokerage operations dropped 24 percent to P127.7 million due to weak customer growth and trading activity during the period.
As a result, COL Financial saw itsmarket share and ranking on the Philippine Stock Exchange drop to 4.8 percent and 7th, respectively.
However, customers continued to entrust their investable funds with COL Financial. Client assets rose over 2 percent to almost P108 billion at the end of March compared with the year-earlier period.
Its fund source business, meantime, saw assets under administration hold steady at P4.3 billion amid the weak market conditions, with customers continuing to shift and diversify their fund investments into bonds and global income-generating funds.
“The macroenvironment continues to remain challenging in 2023, and we are continuously looking for ways to help our customers navigate these kinds of market conditions,” said president and chief executive officer Dino Bate. “Aside from providing better and more timely guidance, we’re committed to bring in better investment options that can help Filipino investors build their wealth across all kinds of market environments.”
