National Discount Brokers to add staff, up spending
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JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 20 (Reuters) - After reporting a
fiscal fourth quarter that easily beat expectations, National
Discount Brokers Group Inc. (NYSE:NDB) said it would expand its
work force and spend up to $50 million in advertising next
year.
The brokerage also said it expects to begin self-clearing
NDB.com transactions by early calendar year 2001 and would
initially incur higher costs -- higher than what it currently
pays outside brokers -- before it eventually lowers clearing
charges.
The company and its subsidiaries, online brokerage NDB.com
and market maker NDB Capital Markets Corp., expect to spend
about $20 to $25 million during fiscal 2001 on technological
improvements and product enhancements.
It said it plans to expand its work force by about 200
employees during fiscal year 2001, and spend up to $50 million
on advertising, including marketing agreements with online
media companies Go2Net Inc. (NASDAQ:GNET) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO).
Earlier Thursday, the company said it earned 53 cents a
share, excluding charges, or 47 cents a share net, in the
fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, beating Wall Street's
forecasts of 42 cents a share, according to First Call/Thomson
Financial.
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service |
