Shares of Manila Pavilion operator Acesite plunge nearly 8% in morning trade

Shares of Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corporation (ACE), the operator of Manila Pavilion’s hotel and restaurant operations, plunged nearly 8 percent in morning trading Monday, in the aftermath of fire that hit the hotel on Sunday.

As of 11:23 a.m., ACE shares were trading at P1.28 per share, down 7.91 percent from Friday’s close of P1.39 per share.

Shares of the company closed at P1.29 per share, down 7.19 percent.

“As the hotel operations have been suspended and the full extent of the damage is being assessed, investors kept to cash even if it meant selling shares at more than -6 percent today,” Luis Limlingan, head of sales at Regina Capital Development Corp., said.

In a separate regulatory filing submitted by ACE assistant corporate secretary on Monday, the company noted, “Fire occurred at the Manila Pavilion Hotel on March 18, 2018. Hotel operations have been temporarily suspended until the proper clearances from government regulatory agencies shall have been obtained.”

The filing also noted that the “Manila Pavilion Hotel is the main operating asset of Acesite.”

“The longer it takes for the operations to resume, the longer the negative effect on share price,” Limlingan said.

The blaze was declared under control at 8 a.m. Monday, accoring to a report on Dobol B sa News TV, citing Senior Inspector Crossib Cante of the Manila fire bureau’s Station III. The fire broke out shortly before 10 a.m. Sunday.

At least five people were confirmed killed in the blaze, according to a separate report on Dobol B sa News TV. —With Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News