Vol. XXII, No. 96 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Monday, December 8, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
LOPEZ-LED toll operator First Philippine Infrastructure, Inc. topped the list of market losers last week as investors dumped their shares in the absence of market-moving news.
"Profit-taking prevailed during the week [as investors took their cue] from the weak economic data in the US," online brokerage 2TradeAsia said in a report. The toll operator shed a quarter week on week to close at P2.90 on Friday.
Meanwhile, shares of Andrew Tan-led companies suffered one of the worst beatings last week after making it to the list of weekly gainers a week earlier.
Holding company Alliance Global Group, Inc. went down by a fifth to P1.48 on Friday, while property arm Megaworld Corp. shed more than a tenth to 53 centavos.
Still, Megaworld Corp. said it remained on track to meet its full-year net profit target of P3.8 billion, almost four times higher than a year earlier, following quarter hike in earnings to P1.07 billion in July to September.
Other victims of negative investor sentiment were Ayala-led Globe Telecom, which shed 11.5% to P730 on Friday; Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank, which dipped by a tenth to P14.50; Villar-led Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., which slid by a tenth to 95 centavos; and Gokongwei-led JG Summit Holdings, Inc., which lost 9% to settle at P1.62 at the end of the week.
Only two of the 30 companies on the index managed to land on the list of 27 market gainers.
Gokongwei property arm Robinsons Land Corp. added 1.72% to P5.90 week on week. Also making it to the list was index heavyweight Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), which gained 0.6% on a weekly basis to close at P2,335 on Friday.
Pangilinan-led PLDT had been the market’s favorite for the past two weeks despite another announcement that 2009 would be tougher for the company and that profits this year would fall below expectations due to the weakening peso.
Analysts earlier cited renewed investor interest in the telephone company, which expects to book higher core earnings next year from an expected P37 billion this year, on the back of a corporate tax cut to 30% from 35%.
On Friday, the market failed to regain the 90 points it had lost in the previous four trading sessions after prices finished flat.
The composite index lost 4.9% or 82.61 points week on week to 1,888.96, and analysts expect a flat stock market this week in the absence of market-moving news. — Kristine Jane R. Liu
