LOCAL stock market operator The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) logged an increase of nearly 20% in its nine-month net income amid higher investment income.

“The PSE realized a net income after tax of P575.65 million, 19.9% higher from P480.07 million in the same period last year, on account of higher investment income,” PSE said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

It said investment income rose 210.7% to P128.76 million while its operating income dropped 19.8% to P545.38 million.

PSE’s operating revenues dropped 8.7% to P1.1 billion, of which 39.8% came from listing-related activities, and 30.7% from trading-related activities.

Other revenues such as certifications and product training contributed 12.7%, while market data and technology made up 11.5% and 5.3%, respectively.

Listing revenues fell 19.2% to P438.47 million from P542.73 million led by the 29.4% drop in initial listing fees as there were only three initial public offerings (IPOs) as of end-September.

For its nine-month performance, the PSE said P91.88 billion in capital was raised. Of the total, 58.4% came from follow-on offerings, 21.9% from private placement, 15% from stock rights offerings, and 4.7% from IPO.

Trading-related revenues during the nine-month period fell 8.8% to P338.25 million from P370.91 million as total value turnover fell 8.8% to P1.21 trillion as of end-September.

“Retail investors comprised 19.03% of total market transactions, lower compared to the 20.89% recorded in 2022. Meanwhile, percentage of foreign trading was steady at about 43% of total value of trades,” PSE said.

Market data revenues fell 16.1% to P126.49 million from P150.75 million last year while revenues from technology platform subscriptions rose 105.2% to P57.81 million.

“The increase in subscription revenue was on account of the implemented fee adjustments for the use of PSE’s front-end system,” the market operator said.

PSE shares at the local bourse closed unchanged at P170 apiece on Wednesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

CEDadiantiTyClea