Western Financial Earnings Up 54%

Earnings for broker consolidator Western Financial Group (TSX: WES) for the third quarter ending September 30, 2004 were up 53.4% to $795,000 ($0.03 per share) from $518,000 ($0.02 per share) a year earlier. Year-to-date net income is up a whopping 86.1% to $2.80 million ($0.11 per share) from $1.51 million ($0.07 per share) a year earlier.

Revenue for the third quarter this year grew by 32.9% to $10.77 million from $8.10 million a year earlier. And for the first nine months of 2004, revenue was up 26.8% to $30.51 million from $24.06 million the year prior.

Solid growth was seen in the group’s core brokerage operations, where revenue for the third quarter was up by 27.2% to $9.51 million from $7.47 million the year prior. Over the first nine months of 2004, agency revenues rose 241.% to $27.19 million from $21.91 million the year prior. This core business saw growth in all key business drivers, specifically in average number of products sold per account, which is now at 1.64.

The new Bank West operation saw revenues rise 236% in the third quarter, with a 13% increase in assets. Losses stemming from the start-up operation also declined in the third quarter by almost 26%.