PSE expands list of Shariah-compliant firms

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has increased the number of listed firms found compliant with the moral code and religious law of Islam.

As of end-December last year, eight companies have been added to the lineup of listed companies considered adhering to the Shariah standard.

No company, meanwhile, exited the list in the PSE’s recent quarterly update as opposed to the three firms which were kicked out of the roster during the previous quarter.

The PSE said 61 of the more than 260 listed companies adhere to the Shariah standard, up from 53 in the October list.
The new companies that joined the ranks of Shariah-complaint firms were APC Group Inc., Century Peak Metals Holdings Corp., EEI Corp., Globe Telecom Inc., MacroAsia Corp., NIHAO Mineral Resources International Inc., SSI Group Inc., and Trans-Asia Petroleum Corp.

Companies retained in the Shariah-compliant list are ATN Holdings, Inc. A and B shares, Abra Mining & Industrial Corp., Bogo-Medellin Milling Co. Inc., Concepcion Industrial Corp., Da Vinci Capital Holdings Inc.,, Dizon Copper Silver Mines Inc., Forum Pacific Inc., IRC Properties Inc., Island Information & Technology Inc., Keppel Philippines Properties Inc., Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., Now Corp., The Philodrill Corp., Roxas and Co. Inc., SPC Power Corp., Swift Foods Inc., United Paragon Mining Corp. and Wellex Industries Inc.

Other companies that made the list are Apex Mining Inc., Araneta Properties Inc., Asian Terminals Inc., Calapan Ventures Inc., Centro Escolar University, Chemrez Technologies Inc., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Inc., D&L Industries Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc., Holcim Philippines Inc., iPeople Inc., Jollibee Foods Corp., Lafarge Republic Inc., Liberty Flour Mills Inc., Mabuhay Vinyl Corp., Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., Manila Electric Co., Marcventures Holdings Inc., Nickel Asia Corp., Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc., Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., Philex Mining Corp., Philex Petroleum Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Semirara Mining Corp., Starmalls Inc., STI Education Systems Holdings Inc., Universal Robina Corp. and Vulcan Industrial & Mining Corp.

The Shariah covers the rules, regulations, teachings and values that govern the lives of Muslims.

For a company to make it to the list, its primary business should not be in conventional interest-based lending, financial institutions, insurance, mortgage and lease derivatives, pork, alcohol, intoxicants, tobacco, arms and weapons, embryonic stell-cem research, hotel, gambling, casinos, music, cinema and adult entertainment.

The PSE said total revenues derived by the company from the list of prohibited business, if any, should not exceed five percent.

The PSE last year had planned to launch a Shariah index to tap the global Islamic market, but deferred the launch to a later date.

“We postponed that, the index, mainly because we have to spend a little bit more time on other projects. We’re reviewing it now, so I’m not sure of the timing but if we can do it this year, great,” PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat said.