By Jenniffer
B. Austria | Posted on Jan. 01, 2013 at 12:02am
[
manilastandardtoday.com ]
Ten
publicly-listed companies, including San Miguel Brewery Inc. and PAL Holdings
Inc., face trading suspension starting Jan. 2, after failing to comply with the
10-percent minimum public float rule of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Other
companies whose stocks will be suspended from trading are Allied Banking Corp.,
Alphaland Corp., Cosmos Bottling Corp., Nextstage Inc., Southeast Asia Cement
Holdings Inc., PNOC-Exploration Corp., Philcomsat Holdings Corp. and San Miguel
Properties Inc.
The companies
will be given the six-month trading
suspension as a penalty for their failure to sell more shares to the public.
The PSE said
in a memorandum the trading suspension will take effect on Jan. 2, the stock
market’s first trading day in 2013.
It said the
trading suspension on the shares of non-compliant listed companies would cover
not more than six months, or until June 30, 2013.
The Bureau of
Internal Revenue will also impose capital gains tax and a documentary stamp tax
on every sale, barter, exchange or other disposition of shares of listed
companies that are not compliant with the public ownership rule.
The PSE said
if a listed company remained non-compliant after June 30, its shares would be
delisted effective July 1, 2013.
It will lift
the trading suspension imposed on the company’s shares if the erring firm
present sproof of compliance with the public ownership requirement.
The PSE
requires publicly-listed firms to have a minimum of 10 percent of their issued
and outstanding shares, exclusive of any treasury shares, held by the public.
The rule aims
to provide a fair and efficient facility for price discovery and ensure that
sufficient liquidity exists in the stock market.
Several
companies applied for delisting from the stock market because of their minimal
public float level.
The PSE
earlier approved the delisting of Eton Properties Philippines Inc., whose
public float stood at only 5.65 percent.
The PSE also
approved the delisting of First Metro Investments Corp., the investment banking
unit of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.; and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., the
tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Other
companies that opted to delist from the local bourse due to the public
ownership rule were Alaska Milk Corp., PLDT Communications and Energy Ventures
Inc., Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. and Chinatrust (Philippines) Commercial
Bank Corp.
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