MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has seen a rebound in trading and listing activities after the May national elections.
It reported a 1.6 percent growth in net income during the first half of the year to P372.7 million as income from other sources rose and expenses declined.
PSE president and CEO Hans Sicat said “this renewed interest in our market, together with the new products we hope to launch this year, should bode well in the improvement of our financial performance in the second half.”
Operating revenues fell 13.9 percent to P560.81 million due to lower income from listings and trading.
Listing-related income dipped by 14.3 percent as equity issuances were put on hold due to volatilities and uncertainties ahead of the May elections.
Average daily value turnover declined to P7.51 billion from P10.04 billion a year ago. This contributed to the 11.2 percent decrease in trading-related income and 22 percent drop in service fees.
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The company’s other income jumped by 41.5 percent to P156.41 million due to higher gains in investment income.
Costs were effectively managed as total expenses declined by 8.3 percent to P271.66 million.
For the rest of the year, the PSE hopes to offer more products to investors to encourage their particiipation n the market and in the process develop further the country’s capital market.
“We are hopeful we can get more investor participation once products and services like the dollar-denominated securities, Real Estate Investment Trust, and Public Private Partnership company listings are introduced,” Sicat said.
Sicat said the exchange is keeping its P200 billion capital raising target this year, up from the P184.6 billion raised in 2015.
