WG&A declares stock bonus

Leading shipping firm WG&A has approved the declaration of stock dividends in the form of redeemable preferred shares (RPS) to stockholders on record as of Dec. 6, 2002.

Qualified shareholders shall be entitled to receive stock dividends at the rate of one RPS for every four common shares.

The company held a special shareholders’ meeting last Nov. 11 in Cebu City to approve the record date.

WG&A will issue appropximately 374,520,535 redeemable preferred shares with a par value of P1 per share.

The company has the option to buy back the RPS from their holders at a minimum redemption price of P6 per share within a period not exceeding 10 years from the date of issuance of the RPS, at a minimum aggregate amount of redemption for any calendar year of P250 million.

Susan Valdez, WG&A chief finance officer, said the company plans to redeem approximately P2.5 billion of the preferred shares as quickly as possible, depending on the company’s cash flow and financial condition.

In lieu of buying back the RPS, WG&A also has the option to exchange the RPS for a bond to be issued by the company with interest pegged at four percent over the Treasury bill rate prevailing at the time of the exchange.

WG&A’s common shares are already listed at the PSE. The company is majority owned by publicly-listed Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV).

During Monday’s special meeting, WG&A shareholders also approved the change in the company’s name to Aboitiz Transport Group, Inc. The change is in compliance with the share purchase agreement executed by AEV with the former majority owners.

The former WG&A is the largest shipping company in the Philippines. It has 23 vessels in operation plying a route network of 29 ports of call. All its vessels are used in moving different kinds of cargo, with containerized cargo accounting for a substantial portion of its total business.