CitisecOnline turns around, nets P34.32M

By Zinnia B. Dela Peña
The Philippine Star 03/12/2007

Online stockbrokerage firm CitisecOnline.com reported a turnaround in its financial performance last year as it posted a net profit of P34.32 million as against a net loss of P2.04 million in 2005, boosted by higher commission and interest income and gain on financial assets.

In a financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CitisecOnline said consolidated revenues amounted to P94.23 million, up 151.5 percent from the previous year’s P37.5 million.

Commission income jumped 175.2 percent to P52.1 million from only P18.9 million due to the continuing growth of the company’s clientele base and the improvement in trading volume.

Interest income, derived from fixed-income investments both long and short-term, rose 30.5 percent to P21.7 million.

From a P900,000 loss in 2005, the company realized a gain of P19.3 million on investments in high-yielding stocks and bonds.

As of the end of last year, the number of accounts increased by 397.4 percent to 1,073.

Expenses, on the other hand, went up to P59.2 million from only P39.1 million due to the continued hiring of additional staff to complete the required manpower complement, the enhancement of the back-office trading system and the replacement of computer hardware.

As of end-December 2006, CitisecOnline had total assets of P817.3 million or 82.9 percent higher from the previous level’s P446.9 million.

To further expand its client base, CitisecOnline launched a new offering called COLX2 that allows investors to easily borrow funds using marginable stocks and cash balance as collateral.

Citiseconline president Conrado Bate said this flexible credit facility effectively doubles an investor’s buying power and will be readily available at an interest rate of 1.5 percent per month or 18 percent per annum, lower than most traditional lending rates such as a personal loan or a credit card.

Funding for this program will come from proceeds of the company’s share sale in July last year amounting to nearly P150 million and bank borrowings.

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