Capital raised through the equities market hit a record of P150 billion in the first half of the year largely due to the two large rights offering of Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Bank of the Philippine Islands.
Total capital raised from January to June rose 40.5 percent from P106.74 billion posted in the same period last year.
“Market volatilities did not hamper the expansion plans of our listed companies. This is an indicator that they are set on completing their business initiatives amidst a robust domestic economy,” said Philippine Stock Exchange president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon.
“The exchange is pleased to be a conduit in the growth of listed companies by serving as a venue for capital raising. We are also delighted to have already reached 75 percent of our target capital raising amount for the year,” he added.
The capital raising activities from January to June also included those of PetroEnergy Resources Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc., The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc., and the initial public offering of D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc.
Several listed companies, including IRC Properties, Inc., China Banking Corp., Basic Energy Corp. and Golden Bria Holdings Inc. also conducted private placements.
The PSE expects more companies in the second second half of the year to raise funds through the stock market via rights offering and IPOs despite the market’s decline.
Pending fund raising activities include Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s P15-billion rights offering, Del Monte Philippines’s P13.5-billion IPO, Global Ferronickel’s P517-million follow-on offering and Cal-Comp Tech’s P6.77-billion IPO.
“While the stock market has experienced a sharp decline from its all-time high early this year, we expect the country’s sound economic fundamentals to continue to encourage listed companies and potential issuers to raise capital through the equities market and to attract investors to participate in the offerings,” Monzon said.
The Philippine stock market on June 21 officially entered the bear market territory afterthe index sank to 7,098.15, down more than 20 percent from the peak of 9,058.62 on January 29.