Local securities companies saw their combined net profits soar last month after the stock market’s strong gains boosted the profitability of their proprietary operations, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said on Saturday.
The exchange said that the nation’s 80 securities firms posted NT$4.57 billion (US$152 million) in total net profits last month in a sharp rise from the NT$391.31 million total they generated a year earlier.
During that month, the benchmark index on the stock exchange rose 284.47 points, or 3.24 percent, to close at 9,075.91, while 66 of the 80 securities houses reported a net profit and the other 14 ran losses, according to the exchange.
The 80 enterprises that posted gains had earnings per share of NT$0.139 last month, compared with NT$0.08 a year ago, as their return on equity hit 0.95 percent, compared with 0.55 percent last May.
The exchange said that the nation’s 46 integrated securities firms posted NT$4.48 billion in combined net profits last month, up from the NT$321.63 million recorded a year earlier. Of the 46, 39 made money and seven reported losses.
During the same period, the 33 dedicated brokerages nationwide posted NT$93.67 million in total net profits to record a 34.65 percent annual gain.
Exchange statistics show that 26 of the 33 were profitable last month, while the remaining seven incurred net losses.
In Taiwan, integrated securities firms are allowed to engage in a wide range of activities that include brokering trades, proprietary trading and underwriting, while dedicated securities brokers can only broker and trade equities.
Yuanta Futures Co (元大期貨) — the sole futures commission merchant in the nation — reported a net profit of NT$64,000 last month, down from the NT$124,000 recorded in the same period last year, the exchange said.
In the first five months of the year, the 80 securities firms posted a combined NT$13.12 billion in net profits, up 52 percent from a year earlier, while their total earnings per share also rose annually to NT$0.4, up from last year’s NT$0.266.
Meanwhile, the return of equity posted by the 80 enterprises in the January-to-May period climbed to 2.73 percent from 1.81 percent over the same period last year, the exchange said.
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