Bourse net income jumped 45.9% in first 9 months

The operator of the country stock exchange said profit in the first nine months of the year jumped by almost half, aided by increased listing activity and the one-time sale of its offices in the Tektite Towers in the Ortigas business district.

Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. said in a regulatory filing that net income from January to September surged higher by 45.9 percent to P707.35 million compared to the same period in 2016.

It said operating revenues increased 8.8 percent to P953.7 million during the same period.

As noted, a big boost came from the sale of office space to developer Philippine Realty and Holdings Corp. The deal covered four office units covering 4,754.72 square meters and 21 parking slots.

The PSE also cited listing-related fees, which rose 22 percent.

There were four initial public offerings during the nine-month period of 2017: Wilcon Depot Inc., Eagle Cement Corp., Cebu Landmasters Inc. and Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. The PSE also cited 22 follow-on listings and one delisting.

This compared with two IPOs last year, 23 follow-on listings and one desisting.

“Listing-related fees constituted 42.46 percent of operating revenues,” PSE said.

Moreover, trading-related fees were also higher by 7.8 percent while service fees from Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines were lower by 0.3 percent, based on the decline in average daily trading volume.

Costs during the nine-month period were managed as total expenses went down by 4.6 percent, it added.

“Trading activity is slightly higher this year and we hope to see some more follow-on offerings in the fourth quarter,” PSE president and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said in the filing.

“Year-to-date, net foreign buying is over P50 billion with our main index, the PSEi, up around 20 percent. We would like to keep this momentum going to the next year by launching more products and making our market more attractive to both foreign and local investors,” he added. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS