PSE okays voluntary delisting of Metrobank, Metro Pacific units

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved the requests of Metrobank’s investment house unit First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC) and the Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) for voluntary delisting.

In a circular issued yesterday, the PSE said shares of FMIC and MPTC will be stricken off the exchange effective Dec. 21 while trading in these shares shall be suspended beginning today (Dec.18).

Meanwhile, LT Group Inc. (formerly Tanduay Holdings) has boosted its public float from 4.7 percent to 10.4 percent.  The company sold Friday 508.54 million shares out of its 8.55 billion shares to comply with the exchange’s 10 percent minimum public float requirement.

Eton Properties, the property arm of tobacco and beer magnate Lucio Tan, has a pending application for voluntary delisting with the PSE.  Upon the expiration of its tender offer,  a total of 52.144 million common shares had been tendered, comprising 70.66 percent of the shares held by minority shareholders.

Errant companies have until the end of the year to comply with the minimum public ownership rule or they face trading suspension on the first trading day of 2013. They will also be subjected to a  higher stock transaction tax.

Among the firms that have yet to increase their public float include PAL Holdings (2.3 percent), Alphaland (8.03 percent), Synergy Grid (7.44 percent), SPC Power (4.53 percent), Vivant (4.18 percent), Atok-Big Wedge (4.16 percent), Seacem (2.4 percent), Allied Bank(1.51 percent), PNOC-EC (0.21 percent), Globalport (0.12 percent), San Miguel Properties (0.06 percent), 2go (1.85 percent), Filinvest Development  (3.34 percent), Maybank ATR KimEng Financial (0.89 percent), IMI (8.14 percent), Manchester (6.79 percent), San Miguel Brewery (0.61 percent), and Mariwasa (3.89 percent).

Maybank, Synergy Grid, FDC and Alphaland earlier said they would comply with the requirement by issuing shares via private placement.

The trading freeze will be effective for a period of not more than six months or until June 30, 2013. After the lapse of the six-month suspension period, they will automatically be delisted from the bourse unless they have by then complied with the requirement.

Once trading is suspended, any transaction on stock trades will no longer enjoy the preferential tax rate of 0.5 percent.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue will instead slap a capital gains tax equivalent to five percent of net capital gains amounting to not over P100,000. A 10 percent gains tax will apply on the excess.