PSE urges RE firms to tap equities mart

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is encouraging renewable energy (RE) firms to list their shares and raise capital from the bourse.

PSE president and CEO Hans Sicat, in an interview during the recent Chamber of Thrift Bank (CTB) general membership meeting, said  RE “is one sector that we want to see listing in the stock market.”

He said they want more companies to list their shares to help boost the stock market’s operations.

No RE company has indicated plans to list in the PSE since the passage of the rules for RE listing in 2011.

Industry sources said RE firms are still hesitant to raise capital as they are still waiting for the government to finally implement the feed-in tariff (FIT).

The FIT regime is a form of incentives for renewable energy players. FIT offers cost-based compensation to RE players, among other perks.

The FIT rates approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the power regulator, are as follows: P9.68 per kilowatt-hour for solar; P8.53 per kwh for wind, P6.63 per kwh for biomass and P5.90 per kwh for hydropower projects.

In September 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared the PSE’s proposed supplemental listing and disclosure requirements for petroleum and renewable energy companies.

The approved rules aim to relax the one-year operating history requirement under the second board listing rules to allow more petroleum and renewable energy companies to list on the bourse.

In crafting the rules, the PSE noted that petroleum and renewable energy firms interested to list on the bourse face certain hurdles with respect to obtaining funds from the stock market.

Local investors, both small and institutional, are also limited in their ability to invest in and help develop natural resources in the Philippines because of the lack of listed natural resources companies on the exchange.

According to the PSE, the listing of a petroleum or a renewable energy company is more challenging in the Philippines than in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Canada.

The supplemental listing requirements will also be applicable to existing listed companies which seek to undertake capital-raising activities through the exchange.

The rules also aim to provide investors with meaningful and comprehensive understanding of petroleum and renewable energy resources and reserves, and to protect the investing public from irregular and unregulated reports concerning declaration of potential, possible or probable petroleum and renewable energy resources and reserves.