The Philippine Stock Exchange is bullish about the prospects of capital raising activities by local firms this year and hopes to equal if not surpass the all-time high P228.33 billion raised in 2012.
In an interview after the PSE annual stockholders’ meeting, PSE President Ramon S. Monzon noted that “So far, we've hit P122 billion and with luck smiling on us, hopefully, we can approximate that high or we can exceed that high.”
He explained that the PSE is bullish about capital raising activities because of the pandemic which has made it more difficult for firms to borrow money “because banks had to tighten their lending standards.”
“Because of the economic difficulties, a lot of the companies had to borrow, and, I guess, they were reaching their credit limits. But their need for capital continues so they have to go to the equities market,” Monzon said.
He added that, “The other factor is the the opening of the REIT listing in the Exchange. We have a number of companies now that need to raise capital to carry on the real estate investment projects.”
The PSE reported earlier last week that the total capital raised through the bourse in the first half of 2021 already amounted to P122.46 billion—exceeding that P103.76 billion raised in the entire year 2020.
Monzon noted that, there are three upcoming real estate investment trust (REIT) initial public public offerings as well as the planned preferred share of Jollibee Foods Corporation.
Megaworld Corporation planning the biggest REIT IPO so far at P27.3 billion, followed by Robinsons Land Corporation with P26.67 billion, and Filinvest Land Inc. with P14.88 billion.
Vista Land & Lifescapes is also planning a REIT (VREIT) IPO in the fourth quarter but has yet to disclose the target size while AllDay Markets is also planning a P5 billion to P6 billion IPO by October.
Jollibee plans to raise P8 billion to P12 billion from its preferred share offering and this brings the capital raising target to at least P89 billion in the second semester of the year.
If these fund raising activities push through, total capital raised (excluding VREIT) this year should reach at least P212.31 billion. A record high can be hit if the VREIT IPO reaches P16 billion or if there are other stock offerings to be added to the pipeline.
During the bourse’s annual stockholders’ meeting, Philippine Stock Exchange shareholders elected a new Board with former cabinet secretaries Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. and Tomas I. Alcantara coming in as new non-broker directors.
Teodoro and Alcantara replaced Edgardo G. Lacson and Roberto Cecilio O. Lim
For Independent Directors, elected were PSE Chairman Jose T. Pardo, bourse President Ramon S. Monzon, retired Chief Justice Teresita L. De Castro, Consuelo D. Garcia, Vicente L. Panlilio, and Teodoro.
Broker directors elected are Diosdado M. Arroyo, Eddie T. Gobing, Wilson L. Sy, and Ma. Vivian Yuchengco.
Elected as Non-Broker Directors are Alcantara representing other market participants, PLDT’s Anabelle L. Chua representing issuers, San Miguel Corporation’s Ferdinand K. Constantino representing investors, and Rolando Jose L. Macasaet representing investors.
One seat was left vacant after broker Eusebio Tanco declined his nomination due to a dispute over the PSE’s imposing penalties on his brokerage firm over an illegal stock transfer scandal.