iVantage’s money transfer service drives first quarter income up 25% to P69M

Listed investment holding company iVantage Corp. reported a 25.6 percent growth in its first quarter earnings this year to P69.7 million, from P55.98 million in the same period in 2004, driven by higher revenues from its money transfer service.

Based on a financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, iVantage registered revenues of P114.74 million, up 30.56 percent from the previous year’s level of P87.77 million. Bulk of the amount came from its remittance service, which contributed P61.37 million in revenues or 35.11 percent higher than the year ago’s level of P45.42 million.

The significant improvement in income was also attributed to gains on sale of investment in shares of stock and money changing and foreign exchange.

According to iVantage, the growth in volume in its money transfer service is due to the systematic rolling out of full services in certain locations and the expansion of delivery/payment network. There was also an increase in the volume of transactions in March due to the graduation season and the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar.

Income from operations jumped 36 percent to P72.9 million while earnings per share improved to P0.0397 from P0.0319.

Aside from its remittance business, iVantage is also engaged in the information technology and financial services businesses.

iVantage has investments in IT-based entities with strengths in systems integration, software development and hardware distribution. It provides enterprise and consumer solutions via products of the Internet.

The financial institution, on the other hand, is envisioned to lead e-banking initiatives with continued focus on the middle market.

iVantage’s remittance segment provides the infrastructure and services as the largest direct agent for money transfer of overseas Filipino workers.