ATRKE Financial income up

MANILA, Philippines - Financial services provider ATR KimEng Financial Corp. (ATRKE Financial) has posted a consolidated net income of P94.3 million in the first quarter of 2010, or a 95-percent increase over the P48.4 million recorded in the same period last year.

ATRKE Financial is a publicly-listed diversified financial services company, specializing in capital markets, insurance, real estate and other investments.

Total consolidated revenues increased by 33.9 percent to P757.4 million from the P565.5 million the company earned in the same three-month period last year. Total expenses grew by only 22.8 percent to P614.8 million.

ATRKE Financial president Manuel Tordesillas said, in its quarterly report to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), that the strong showing in insurance premiums, commission, and interest income drove total revenues.

“Our first quarter revenues already approximate 35 percent of our full-year 2009 revenues,” Tordesillas added.

Life insurance subsidiries AsianLife Financial Assurance Corp. and AsianLife & General Assurance Corp. continued the upward trend in its operations. Premiums and interest income, mostly from its insurance business, combined for a total of P513.8 million, or a 16.6-percent increase over P440.72 million in the first quarter of 2009.

The capital markets group, bannered by ATR KimEng Securities Inc., reported increases of 85.4 percent in commission to nearly P106.6 million as local equity trading improved over the same period last year. 

Asset management fees from the operations of ATRKE Financial’s Asset Management group also showed positive results. Fees from the group totaled P4.4 million, up 22.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The company’s real estate also recorded an uptrend as net sales improved 24 percent in the first quarter of the year. 

Construction of its TRIbeca Private Residences project in Muntinlupa is proceeding well, with Towers 1 and 2 completed and Towers 3 and 4 are rising already. TRIbeca is a joint venture of subsidiary ATR KimEng Land Inc. and Landco Pacific Corp.

“Our performance in the first quarter shows the continued improvement in the economic conditions in the country,” said Tordesillas. “With the recent conclusion of a peaceful national and local elections, we are optimistic that this will bring about greater stability which will further encourage growth.”

He added that the ATR KimEng group believes in the country’s economic potential and is positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that will present themselves in the capital markets, insurance, and real estate businesses for the rest of the year.