KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): The share prices of listed stockbroking companies such as Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd and Apex Equity Holdings Bhd are on the rise amid the surge in retail trading over the past few months.

Kenanga saw its share price more than double year-to-date to yesterday’s closing of 96 sen, its highest in 13 years.

The group saw its net profit more than triple to RM20.47 million for its second quarter ended June 30, 2020 (2QFY20), from RM5.6 million a year earlier, amid the swell in retail trade, while its revenue jumped 24.1% to RM209.74 million from RM169.05 million.

The improvement in performance was attributed to higher net income amid higher brokerage fees, trading and investment income, and management fee income, as well as higher share of profits from its joint venture company Rakuten Trade.

The group also noted that trading volume on the local bourse had swelled to a daily peak of 26.65 billion securities earlier this month.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd also acknowledged the rise in trading activities in both the securities and derivatives markets during the second quarter, which resulted in a 59.7% increase in trading revenue due to higher average daily trading value.

This was supported by local investors, it said in a statement released along with its financial results for 1HFY20, with higher retail participation during the period.

Another counter which has appreciated since the start of the year is Apex Equity, which is involved in stockbroking services via its wholly-owned subsidiary JF Apex Securities Bhd.

Year-to-date, Apex Equity has gained 35% to RM1.08, breaching the RM1 mark. During the latter part of July, the counter closed at a two-year high of RM1.19.

The group has yet to announce its financial results for 2QFY20, although it did see an 8% increase in contribution from its stock and futures broking business in 1QFY20 due to higher brokerage income.

It posted a net profit of RM2.16 million for 1QFY20, up 25.6% from RM1.72 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, while revenue increased 4% to RM9.67 million from RM9.3 million.

However, TA Enterprise, which operates its stockbroking business via TA Securities Holdings Bhd, did not really see much share price appreciation year-to-date, seeing as the counter has been hovering around the 61 sen mark since the start of the year.

The group posted a loss of RM148.64 million for 1QFY20, versus a net profit of RM163.1 million for 1QFY19. Its revenue for the quarter fell 5.5% to RM207.53 million from RM219.51 million.

While the group did see an increase in profit contribution from its broking and financial services division in 1QFY20, along with better performance from its property investment and property development divisions, its results for the quarter was dragged by lower profit from the investment holding and hotel operations divisions.

Edited by S Kanagaraju