Emperador a blue chip under revised PSE index

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is taking Philex Mining Corp. out of the benchmark list of blue chips and replaces it with Emperador Inc.

The PSE said yesterday effective on Sept. 15, Emperador will be included in the 30-company PSE index (PSEi) to take the place of Philex Mining.

Emperador is the hard liquor unit of property tycoon Andrew Tan while Philex is the mining arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

“This review follows our regular process as published in our index rules. The regular updates should continue to make our index and its constituents more relevant and attractive especially against the backdrop of Asean Integration,” PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat said.

The country’s only stock exchange said inclusion in the PSEi requires a listed company to rank among the top companies in terms of liquidity and market capitalization.

In addition, the PSE said companies in the main index are required to maintain a higher free float level of 12 percent compared to the minimum requirement of 10 percent for listed companies.

Aside from the main index, the PSE is also set to make changes in the composition of sector indices.

The local bourse said the financials index will have two additional members – Bright Kindle Resources and Investments Inc. and Sun Life Financial Inc.

The industrial index will also reflect the inclusion of Concepcion Industrial Corp., Del Monte Pacific Ltd. and Roxas Holdings Inc., and the exclusion of Greenergy Holdings Inc.

The holding firms index composition, meanwhile, will be reduced to 14 with the removal of AbaCore Capital Holdings Inc., Minerales Industrias Corp. and Solid Group Inc.

The property index, on the other hand, will see two additions in Starmalls Inc. and Suntrust Home Developers Inc. while A. Brown Co., Inc. and Cyber Bay Corp. will be removed.

Four issues will likewise be added to the services sector: DFNN Inc.,  Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. IP E-Game Ventures Inc. will be removed, the PSE said.

For the mining and oil index, the PSE said there will be no additions but Dizon Copper Silver Mines Inc. will be removed.

The recomposition in the PSEi and sector indices was the result of the PSE’s regular review of its indices which covered trading activity from July 2013 to June 2014.

The  PSE to date has 260 listed companies and 133 active trading participants.