The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)'s accumulated revenue up to Dec. 31, 2004 was 456 million HK dollars (about 54.46 million US dollars), announced the SFC Tuesday.

At a media briefing, Chairman of the SFC Andrew Sheng reviewed the financial position of the SFC for the first nine months of the current financial year and reported the operational highlights for the year 2004.

Accumulated revenue up to Dec. 31, 2004 was 456 million HK dollars, while expenditure (including depreciation) was 334 million HK dollars. These resulted in a surplus of 122 million HK dollars for the three quarters.

Sheng noted a continuous recovery in the stockbroking sector. Total gross securities commission income for the industry was 16 billion HK dollars (130 million US dollars) for the 11 months of 2004, already 23 percent higher than the 13 billion HK dollars for the whole of 2003.

Total net profit was 7 billion HK dollars, 80 percent higher than the 3.9 billion HK dollars for 2003. Employment in the industry was also up 7 percent from the beginning of 2004.

Source: Xinhua