MPIC considers delisting from PSE
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation’s possible voluntary delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange is among the options being discussed by the firm’s board of directors due to the low market price of its shares.
In a disclosure to the bourse, MPIC said it “discusses several options available to it for the benefit of the company and its stakeholders, and among the options considered is the delisting of MPIC’s shares.”
It stressed though that, “While delisting as an option is being discussed, no final decision has been made. Furthermore... MPIC has not entered into any definitive agreement relating to the acquisition of its shares by an investor.”
The disclosure is being made in response to reports that a giant Japanese conglomerate is acquiring a substantial stake in the MPIC and MPIC will soon be delisting from the PSE.
MPIC’s share price has recently hit P4.18 per share, its highest in one year, from its low of P3.14 per share in the last 12 months. As of this writing, the stock has risen by more than 5.5 percent at P4.00 per share and an intraday range of P3.80 to P4.02 per share.
The stock has seen renewed buying interest following talks for the entry of a strategic investor and its possible delisting.
MPIC reported that its attributable net income inched up 4 percent to P16.4 billion in the first nine months of 2022 from the P15.74 billion earned in the same period of 2021.
According to MPIC Chief Finance, Risk and Sustainability Officer Chaye A. Cabal–Revilla, consolidated core net income grew 25 percent growth to P11.8 billion for the first nine months of 2022 from P9.5 billion a year earlier.
She said “Improved financial and operating results of the constituent companies delivered a 17 percent increase in contribution from operations, mainly driven by a strong recovery in toll road traffic, growth in power consumption, and increase in billed water volumes.”
Power accounted for P8.9 billion or 58 percent of net operating income; Toll Roads contributed P4.1 billion or 26 percent; Water contributed P2.2 billion or 15 percent; and the other businesses, mainly Real Estate, Hospitals, Fuel storage, and Light Rail, contributed P153 million.