Posted on May 21, 2012 10:05:02 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
THE TRADING suspension on Eton
Properties Philippines, Inc.’s shares will likely remain in place until next
month, with the errant developer yesterday saying it will only be able to
resolve the ban by mid-June.
“Management is currently endeavoring
to complete its [2011] annual report and expects to be able to submit the same
by mid-June 2012,” Eton Properties said.
Last Friday, the Philippine Stock
Exchange (PSE) halted the trading of Eton Properties’ shares following the
company’s failure to submit its annual report, which had been due since April
16.
Glitches in the company’s adoption of
a fully automated accounting system, particularly for transactions covering
over 30 property projects, delayed the creation of the annual report, Eton
Properties said.
Under the PSE’s revised disclosure
rules, firms that fail to comply with the stock exchange’s reportorial requirements
shall be automatically suspended for up to three months.
Those that have not complied after
three months will be subjected to delisting procedures.
So far, the developer has only
submitted SEC Form 17-Q, or its quarterly report for the period ending Sept.
2011, which it forwarded to the PSE last November.
Nevertheless, Eton Properties said it
will be able to solve its accounting issues in the next few days and complete
its annual report soon.
“Management is confident... that these
problems will be sorted out within the week and the fully automated accounting
system will better serve the reporting requirements of the company in the long
term,” the company said.
Eton Properties was incorporated in
1971 to engage in oil exploration and mineral development projects in the
Philippines under the name Balabac Oil Exploration & Drilling Co., Inc.
It eventually changed its primary
purpose to a holding company, with real estate development and oil exploration
as among its secondary purposes.
For 2011, the company was aiming to
surpass the P288-million full-year net income it booked in 2010, and deliver
2,351 residential units in 2012, according to earlier BusinessWorld reports.
Eton Properties realized a nine-month
net income last year of P600.63 million, up 13.21% from P530.55 million in the
same period in 2010, due to lower costs and expenses.
Total revenues similarly jumped by
20.12% to P3.76 billion in the January to September period last year.
Expenses in the first nine months of
2011 also rose by 18.21% to P2.966 billion from P2.509 billion last year.
The company, which has a public float
of 5.6% according to recent PSE data, is one of 30-plus listed firms mandated
to raise their public ownership levels to a minimum of 10% by Jan. 1, 2013, or
else face penalties leading to eventual delisting from the stock exchange.
Shares of Eton Properties were last
traded on May 16 at P3.53 apiece. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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