The Manila Times

Third telco bid win boosts Chelsea Logistics’ shares

- BY TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD AVERAGE

CHELSEA Logistics Holdings Corp.’s shares soared last week after the government named the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. (Mislatel), a consortium between the Dennis Uy-led shipping company, its parent Udenna Corp. and China Telecommun­ications Corp., the Philippine­s’ provisiona­l third telecommun­ications player.

In a bidding at the National Telecommun­ications DigiPhil Technology. Commission’s Under this contract, Sear Consortium (NTC) office in Quezon City on claimed, Mislatel is barred from Wednesday, Mislatel scored the highacquir­ing franchise permits and franchises - for other party’s use without

prior consent from DigiPhil, which under the highest committed level of services (HCLoS) system used by the NTC selection committee.

This system evaluates population coverage, broadband speed and

“It (Chelsea Logistics’ share price) went up after [it was] selected as the [provisiona­l] third telco,” Diversi-

Pangan said.

On the day the consortium won, -

However, its share price declined by 8.94 percent to P7.74 on Thursday

questioned Mislatel’s participat­ion, Pangan added.

Chavit Singson-backed Sear Telecom Consortium — made up of the former Ilocos Sur governor’s LCS Group of Companies and Davaobased TierOne Communicat­ions — claimed it had an existing exclusive contract with TierOne subsidiary

In a November 9 disclosure, Chelsea Logistics said the NTC “accepted the validity of the Mislatel franchise when it vetted Mislatel’s documents during the...selection process.”

In response, Mislatel said that contract was non-existent.

“What Mislatel had was a terminated contract with a company called DigiPhil that was meant for small projects,” it said in a statement over the weekend.

“Those issues made the investors

bid,” Pangan said.

“[We also have to consider that], even though [Mislatel] won the bid,” it won’t be making money immediatel­y once they begin operations, he added. “It will take time as they have to set up their own infrastruc­ture for [that] industry.”

On Friday, Chelsea Logistics’ shares recovered somewhat, climbing by plunge for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.

Its latest trade price is 16.49 percent down from its year-to-date high of P9.34 on January 30, but is 68.10 percent higher than its year-to-date low of P4.64 on October 11.

Chelsea Logistics’ stocks are down 10 percent year-to-date.

“Chelsea Logistics’ stock price performanc­e has been stellar [for] the past two weeks as market participan­ts played on the news that the company is joining the race to become the third telco player,” Timson Securities Inc. trader Jervin De Celis said.

On the shipping company’s share-price plunge, he explained

Chelsea Logistics’ shares went up after the Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co., the consortium it formed with parent Udenna Corp. and China Telecom, was named the provisiona­l third telco player. Chaucer Tan, said Uy’s ties with President Rodrigo Duterte should not be discounted.

“We all know that Dennis Uy is a close friend of Duterte in Davao. In my opinion, it is also a factor that we can consider,” he said, referring to the possibilit­y of Mislatel being

“In my…view, CLC (Chelsea Logistics) will continue its volatility until such time that CLC of Udenna group will be the winner bidder but for now it will be speculativ­e,” he added.

income jumped by 29 percent to P360 million on the back of double-

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