BLS looks for more sustainable growth
Industry liberalisation leads to better balance
Bualuang Securities (BLS) has diversified its revenue structure as part of its effort towards sustainable growth, but its brokering business remains the largest revenue contributor.
President Pichet Sithi-Amnuai said brokering now generates more than 60% of total revenue, down from 80% early last year, while revenue derived from other businesses including investment banking, derivative warrants (DWs), and private funds has increased.
But the company ranks in the top five for brokering, with a market share of 4.8% to 5% with 70,000 trading accounts, half of them active.
Last year’s industry liberalisation ended the commission fee price war that took place in the past.
Most players have since focused on improving their trading technology, services and new products, said Mr Pichet.
BLS is also the leader in issuing DWs, with a market share of 70%.
DWs have gained in popularity, and their trading accounts for 1.3% of the total market value.
BLS believes the DW market has plenty of room for growth, as DWs make up 30% of market value on the Hong Kong bourse.
Mr Pichet said private and provident funds are another area of high growth, and the company has assets under management worth 20 billion baht in this segment, with growth of 2-3 billion per year.
For investment banking, BLS is serving as a financial adviser for the initial public offerings of the Mono Group and Bangkok Airways.
The Mono Group will seek a listing on the Market for Alternative Investment next month and Bangkok Airways on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the third quarter.
The company has revised its business strategy to expand its investor base and help to protect novice investors from volatility by providing exclusive investment training programmes.
Securities companies should instruct investors on gaining better investment skills and wealth management knowledge, said Mr Pichet.
‘‘To stop rookies from getting burned, brokerages need to teach them how to survive in order to create quality investors,’’ he said.
BLS selects enthusiastic investors for the programme to learn about the fundamentals and technical skills from stock gurus.
It offers two training programmes — Stock Master meets eight times over two months, while Stock Master Troop is conducted online.
Both programmes started last year and require an initial investment of 100,000 baht in the market.
BLS picked 30 of the 500 interested investors for Stock Master and placed the others in Stock Master Troop.
It has received 700 applications this year.