PNB admitted only 0.5% of shareholders to receive prop div on October 25

Responding to an inquiry from the PSE [link], the Philippine National Bank [PNB 27.75, down 0.5%; 37% avgVol] admitted that it has only fully processed 902 eCARs out of the 36,362 shareholders with certificated shares. Out of that batch of 902 shareholders with eCARs, only 204 have “fully settled their obligations with the BIR”. That means that only 2.4% of eligible investors have even been issued an eCAR, and only 0.5% are in position to actually receive their PNB property dividend on October 25.

MB bottom-line: What a cumbersome, anti-human mess. More than two years after declaring the dividend, only 2.4% of applications have gone far enough into the process to pay the withholding tax to the BIR. What is the bottleneck here? I have emails from so many PNB shareholders who are confused about how to get an eCAR. Has PNB’s communication been sufficient for this process? Has the BIR been reasonable in its handling of the work that is a part of its mandate? This feels like such a 1980s outcome. This doesn’t work.

Merkado Barkada is a free daily newsletter on the PSE, investing and business in the Philippines. You can subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Twitter to receive the full daily updates.