The Financial Services Commission (FSC ) indicates in its latest report on a sector comprising 29 securities dealers that assets have grown by 16.8 per cent as at June 30, 2021.

For the sector whose primary business is dealing in securities, the aggregate balance sheet assets as at the end of June 2021 stood at $780.3 billion, reflecting a 3.9 per cent increase over March 2021 quarter and a 16.8 per cent growth over June 2020 levels.

For the 29 companies analysed, total funds under management was approximately $1.42 trillion as at June 30, 2021.

The FSC indicates that total assets were supported by a capital base of $131.9 billion — a growth of 3.3 per cent from the $127.7 billion reported for the previous quarter. When compared to the corresponding period last year, capital base recorded a 25.3 per cent increase moving from $105.3 billion as at June 30, 2020.

The FSC said that the changes in both capital and total balance sheet assets indicate a modest increase in market business operations for the June 2021 quarter. It also stated that this represented a growth of 7.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent when compared to the previous year and quarter, respectively.

Meanwhile, the securities firms’ aggregate total revenue (comprising interest income and other income) of $18.6 billion was recorded for the second quarter of 2021, reflecting a 12.7 per cent increase quarter over quarter.

The figure reported for June 2021 also represents a 66.1 per cent increase when compared to the June 2020 returns.

The FSC said that the growth in total revenues stemmed from an increase in non-interest income (fees and commission, dividend incomes, and capital gains) for June 2021 when compared to both the previous quarter and corresponding period of 2020.

Additionally, total expenses saw a quarter-over-quarter decrease of 0.9 per cent. This predominantly stemmed from a decrease in operating expenses, which stood at $6.6 billion as at June 2021 (March 2021: $7.2 billion).

Net profit after tax increased by $3.9 billion or 195.0 per cent, moving from $2.0 billion in June 30, 2020 to $5.9 billion in June 30, 2021 (March 2021: $4.0 billion).

The FSC noted that this return led to a positive return on assets of 4.5 per cent for the quarter ended June 2021, compared to 1.9 per cent for the corresponding period last year and a 3.1 per cent for the previous quarter.