PSE hoping for more IPOs, listings next year

After a relatively lean year for initial public offerings (IPOs), the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is hoping to attract more companies – from SMEs to giant multinationals – to list their shares and provide the impetus for a long-awaited stock market rally next year, PSE chairperson Vivian Yuchengco said.

From big-ticket items that include the likes of oil firms Shell and Caltex, energy companies PNOC and Mirant, and pharmaceutical leaders United Laboratories and Mercury Drug, Yuchengco also said the exchange is also in active discussions with small and medium enterprises, which seemed more eager to offer their stocks to the public.

"We will push for the listing of SMEs nationwide," she stressed. "We have been approached by the Small Business Guaranty Fund Corp. (SBGFC) who presented us with a short list of about five – 10 SMEs ripe and ready for the stock market."

The PSE put up a third board, the SME board, in 2001 to serve as a "nursery market" for young and small companies but with high potentials for growth. However, the economic difficulties and the negative image created on the stock market by the BW Resources trading scandal sidelined many SMEs plans to go public.

To qualify for listing at the SME board, companies should have an authorized capital of P20 million to P100 million; a paid-up capital of at least 25 percent; and at least a two-year record of positive net operating income, among others.

Since the SME board was established, only one company has entered its registry, the Makati-based information technology (IT) service provider SQL*Wizard in May 2001. Another company, financing firm Makati Finance Corp., is set to list at the SME board early next year after winding up its IPO this week, while an affiliate, online investment matchmaker Cashrounds.com currently has a pending IPO application to list in the same board.