Charles Schwab Quarterly Profit Soars 77%

Charles Schwab (NASDAQ:SCHW) revealed a 77% jump in third-quarter profit on record traffic during stock market volatility in August, however the company warned expenses will have to be contained in the current economic environment.

The online brokerage said its cash holdings remained close to pre-crisis levels and its full-service capabilities remained in demand during the period, shown by increased enrollments in its advisory solutions business.

The company ended the period with 2.4 million accounts, which is up 153,000 from September 2010, and saw record volume early in August at the height of market volatility. Logins to Schwab.com were up 17% year-over-year to 68 million.

The San Francisco-based company reported net income of $220 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $124 million, or 10 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Client assets climbed 7% to $1.58 trillion.

Revenue was up 11% to $1.18 billion from $1.06 billion in the earlier period. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been expecting a profit of 19 cents on share of $1.19 billion.

“Our unique combination of full-service, high-value brokerage continues to perform well and deliver growth despite a difficult economic environment,” said the company’s chief executive Walt Bettinger, in a statement. “Although the environment weakened further during the third quarter, our clients stayed with their long-term investing plans.”

Looking ahead, Bettinger said the company will remain focused on controlling costs amid the weakened economic environment, while staying true to long-term goals.