COL Financial profit hits P115.2-M in Q3

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MANILA — Listed online stock broker COL Financial boosted its profit by 28.4 percent to Php115.2 million in the third quarter (Q3) on higher revenues from Philippine operations.

COL Financial said it achieved higher net income in July to September despite a challenging period for Philippine stock brokers in general as value turnover in the Philippine Stock Exchange remained weak.

“However, COL bucked the trend as it benefited from the steady growth of its client base,” the company said.

As of end September 2014, COL’s client base reached 104,242, or 34.6 percent higher year-on-year.

The Philippines accounted for 92.1 percent of total revenues in the third quarter that reached Php186.8 million.

COL Financial said the strong third-quarter earnings limited the decline in profit in January to September to Php249.3 million, down by 16.1 percent from Php297.14 million during the same period last year.

“We are pleased to announce the continuous recovery of our profits for the third quarter. This is to no small part due to the growing number of Filipino investors who continue to put their trust in COL as their partner for achieving their long term financial goals,” said COL president and chief executive officer Dino Bate.

Bate announced that COL Financial will soon provide new service to Filipino investors.

“By making funds accessible online, we will be able to address the needs of more Filipino investors, particularly those who either do not have the time to actively manage their investments, are more conservative, or are looking to diversify their portfolio outside of stocks,” he said.

COL hopes that this new service will encourage more Filipinos to invest as buying funds become more convenient.