Despite market volatility, PSE reports growth

The Philippine Stock Exchange saw a 3-percent increase in net profit last year to P701.54 million, driven mostly by the expansion in listing income and a tight lid on expenses.

Operating revenue rose by 4 percent to P1.26 billion while operating expenses dipped by 1.5 percent to P601.91 million, the local bourse said in a statement yesterday.
Listing-related income— which accounted for 44.2 percent of operating revenue— rose by 15.6 percent. This increase was attributed to four initial public offerings and 39 additional follow-on offerings done at the local bourse.

The four companies that debuted on the stock exchange last year were death solutions provider Golden Haven, oil firm Pilipinas Shell, cement-maker Cemex Holdings Philippines and pizza chain operator Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc.

Service fees from the Securities Clearing Corp. of the Philippines also rose by 10 percent while revenue from data feed also increased by 12.5 percent with the increase in both market data subscribers and income from subscription.

PSE’s trading-related income, on the other hand, dipped by 2.2 percent as total value turnover for the year declined by 10.3 percent to P1.93 trillion.

“Our revenues were affected by the volatile markets as it kept our trading income muted,” said PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat. “But the decline in the revenue segment was more than offset by the multiple offerings we had, which picked up in the second half of 2016.”

“This year, we believe we would have a healthy IPO and secondary offerings pipeline which could support the growth of listing-related revenues,” said Sicat.

With the approval of the dollar-denominated securities and PPP (public-private partnership) listing rules, Sicat said the SE had effectively diversified its product for various types of offerings to take place in the market.

“We are also hoping that trading activity will pick up in the coming months,” Sicat added. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA