CGS ties up with brokerages in Singapore and Malaysia
Country Group Securities (CGS), a large-scale brokerage firm, has joined hands with securities houses in Singapore and Malaysia in preparation for the provision of services under the Asean Linkage cooperation scheme and the liberalisation of Thai brokerag
Chief executive officer Prasit Srisuwan said yesterday that CGS’s move followed the termination of its plan to buy into a brokerage in Hong Kong, after negotiations had failed to reach fruition.
“Now, we have entered preliminary agreements with business partners, which are securities firms in Singapore and Malaysia,” he said.
Initially, the three securities houses will cross-sell business to each other in a bid to serve demand for cross-trading among Asean member states.
Prasit said the company had already prepared its trading system in response to the Asean Linkage scheme, and it was therefore ready to go once the Stock Exchange of Thailand kicked off the services.
“It’s possible that we [the company and business partners] might cross-hold shares in each other,” he added.
In addition, CGS has prepared its IT system, risk-management tools, marketing team and new financial products and services for the liberalisation of brokerage fees in Thailand next year.
The company aims to expand its customer base for both individual and institutional investors in order to strengthen its organisation, the CEO said.
Prasit said the company expected its market share of brokerage business this year would be between 5 and 6 per cent, maintaining its position as one of the country’s top-five broking houses by trading volume.
“The company is confident of keeping its ranking next year, even though competition will be intense,” he added.
In the first nine months of the year, CGS achieved a net profit of Bt253 million, against Bt171 million for the whole of 2010. The nine-profit was in line with higher average daily turnover of Bt28 billion on the bourse.
The company’s brokerage business in the derivatives market this year also looks good, with a share of 4 per cent, he said. It ranks in the top 10 among derivatives traders, up from 24th place last year, due to new products such as oil, silver and gold futures.
Prasit said the capital gain from the company’s investment portfolio this year would be less than last year, due to stock-market volatility.
CGS has an overall portfolio of Bt500 million, of which Bt400 billion is in long-term investments and the remainder is in short-term investments.
As a result of the severe floods, CGS was forced to temporarily shut eight branches in Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Only two of these, in Bang Khae and Bang Buathong, remain closed, however.
