SEC investments jump 60% in H1

New investments registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) grew 60 percent in the first half this year to P52.67 billion, from only P33.02 billion the same period a year ago.

However, the SEC said the bulk of the new investments came from the P30-billion real estate holding company established by state-run pension agency Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

The new firm, GSIS Properties Inc., filed its incorporation papers with the SEC in April this year. It will engage primarily in the development and sale of land and building assets.

Preliminary data culled by the SEC’s Investment Research Department showed that of the P52.67 billion total investments, P18.44 billion were subscribed and P12.04 billion paid up.

In terms of the number of entities that applied for registration with the SEC, the figure dropped by 4.6 percent to 7,078 from 7,422 a year earlier.

SEC officials expect more investments to trickle in in the second half this year with the improved outlook for global economic conditions.

Officials said following the end of the US-Iraq war, renewed investor confidence translated into an increase in foreign portfolio investments into the country.

Foreign portfolio investments surged by over 120 percent during the first nine months of the year to $423.5 million from $186.2 million the previous period.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas attributed the increase in portfolio investments to the improvement in the country’s economic fundamentals that attracted funds from other emerging markets into the country.

Last year, the SEC registered 11,435 new domestic stock corporations with total authorized capital stock of P67.81 billion or a slight decline of 0.21 percent from the 2001 level.

In terms of paid-up capital stock, total foreign directments in new and existing local corporations and partnerships reached P5.2 billion, a substantial increase of 27.13 percent from the previous figure of P4.09 billion. This figure does not include the additional premium amounting to P25.7 billion paid by Japan’s Kirin Brewery Ltd. for the purchase of a stake in food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp.