Villar shares rally after securing ABS-CBN frequencies

MANILA, Philippines — Shares of Villar-owned listed companies rallied yesterday after the National Telecommunications Commission announced that it had awarded the frequencies of ABS-CBN to Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS).

Vistamalls Inc., the Villar Group’s listed mall company, rallied 17.86 percent to close at P4.29 per share after reaching a high of P5.40 per share.

Vistamalls owns Starmall along EDSA, which will be the site of the broadcast studio where the Villar Group will broadcast the Channel 2 frequency.

Property company Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. rallied by 1.44 percent to close at P3.52 per share after reaching a high of P3.55 per share while AllDay Marts Inc. rose by 1.69 percent to P0.60 per share.

AllDay also announced its expansion plans yesterday with the opening of its newest location in Metro Manila – AllDay Worldwide Corporate Center (WCC) along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.

This marks the 35th location of AllDay, currently the fastest growing supermarket operator in the Philippines.

This developed as shares of ABS-CBN slumped by 10.14 percent to P12.76 per share as investors unloaded their stocks following the NTC’s move.

The NTC announced on Tuesday night that it had granted the frequencies previously assigned to ABS-CBN Corp. to AMBS.

It said that a provisional authority was given to AMBS “to install, operate and maintain a digital television (TV) broadcasting system in Mega Manila using Channel 16, which used to be ABS-CBN’s digital channel.”

Furthermore, the NTC “temporarily” assigned Channel 2, previously the analog channel of ABS-CBN, to AMBS for “simulcast purposes.”

“The temporary assignment was granted to ensure service to both analog and digital TV signal users as the country transitions to full digital TV,” it said.

The NTC also said AMBS “was the first applicant for an authority to install, operate and maintain a digital TV in Metro Manila as filed on Oct. 5, 2006.”

Lopez-owned ABS-CBN lost its broadcast franchise in 2020 after the House Committee on Legislative Franchises denied its application.