Listed firms raise P187 B in fresh capital this year

Corporations raised P187 billion from the Philippine Stock Exchange this year, short of the P200 billion capital raising target.

PSE president and CEO Ramon Monzon, however, said they expect to hit the P200 billion goal next year.

“We’re P12 billion short. It’s not bad. Last year, we only hit P167 billion,” Monzon told reporters Tuesday night.

The market was robust in the first half but the environment changed when inflation started hitting record highs in the second half, he said.

Inflation rose to 6.4 percent in August then to 6.7 percent in September and October before stabilizing at six percent in November.

The capital raising activities in the market consisted of stock rights offerings by PetroEnergy Resources Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc., The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., and Bank of the Philippine Islands as well as the initial public offering of D.M. Wenceslao and Associates.

There were also private placements in IRC Properties, China Banking Corp., Basic Energy Corp., and Golden Bria Holdings.

D.M. Wenceslao conducted its P8.1 billion IPO last June.

Monzon said the PSE is hoping that the situation would improve next year despite the lower than expected capital raising activities.

Monzon is optimistic that with the country’s sound economic fundamentals, foreign fund managers may return to the market and bring back the needed volume.

He said foreign fund managers are still the major drivers of the market.