PSE income jumps 28% in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the operator of the country’s only stock exchange, saw its profits jumped by over a fourth in the first nine months of the year on the back of robust gains in its listing-related income.

The PSE said its net income climbed 28.1 percent year-on-year to P718.96 million while operating revenues for the January to September period rose 18.7 percent at P1.19 billion.

Its listing-related income, which accounted for 42.9 percent of operating revenues, soared 79.1 percent as listing fees from initial public offerings (IPO) and additional listings improved.

Trading-related income, however, dipped by 8.3 percent due to lower transaction fees. Trading-related income made up 18.5 percent of operating revenues.

Total value turnover likewise slipped to P1.54 trillion as of September 2014 from P1.99 trillion in the same period last year.

Data feed income offsetting subscription fees grew 13.4 percent and 42.4 percent, respectively, losses in trading-related income.

“We are pleased with the company’s performance in the first nine months. We expect capital raising activity to remain brisk in the last few weeks of the year with the number of IPOs and follow on offerings lined up,” said PSE president and chief executive officer Hans B. Sicat.

Three firms have so far listed in the local bourse in first nine months of the  the year.

Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., the majority shareholder of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., listed by way of introduction in January this year. DoubleDragon Properties Corp. and Century Pacific Food Inc., the Philippines’ largest canned goods producer, conducted an IPO in April and May, respectively.

As of end-September, the PSE said total expenses went up by 14.9 percent to P413.19 million behind higher operational expenses.

“The year is drawing to a close but we remain focused on what needs to be accomplished based on our targets this year,” Sicat said.

The PSE said groundwork for the new trading system powered by NASDAQ OMX’s X-stream Trading Technology is on schedule to meet the May 2015 schedule to go live.

On the corporate governance front, the PSE held last week its 2014 Bell Awards ceremony with the recognition of five listed companies and six trading participants.

The PSE was one of the recipients of the Outstanding Company on Corporate Governance award given by Hong Kong-based quarterly journal Corporate Governance Asia in October 2014.

It was also among the finalists in the Corporate Governance Company of the Year category of the Asia CEO Awards.