PSEi trades flat on profit-taking ahead of IPOs

Share prices on the Philippine Stock Exchange closed on a flat note Friday as investors took profits ahead of two initial public offerings (IPOs).

First quarter corporate results also failed to impress the market.

"The upcoming two IPOs this month have prompted some investors to shift and sell some issues to fund their IPO acquisitions. This has drawn money out of other issues," said Harry Liu, president of Summit Securities Inc.

The main PSEi declined eased lower by 0.87 points or 0.01 percent to 7,815.53. The broader All Shares declined by 8.62 points or 0.19 percent to 4,648.26.

Ramon Ang's Eagle Cement Corp. and property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. are raising money from the stock market.

Eagle Cement is raising as much as P7.384 billion by selling 500 million shares at P15 per share, and an overallotment option of 75 million secondary shares to cover additional demand.

The offer period runs from May 16 to May 22, and the listing date is on May 29.

Cebu Landmasters is raising P3.8 billion by offering 505 million shares at a maximum price of P6.65 per share. The the offer period will run from May 19 to 26, with a tentative listing date of June 2.

AB Capital research head Jose Vistan noted some of the corporate earnings failed to impress the market. "It was really on the lower than expected corporate earnings," he said.

"Most of the issues that that declined are companies with weaker earnings such as PLDT, which reported 26 percent decline in core net income," Vistan noted.

Foreign funds bought P4.428 billion worth of shares during the session and sold P4.856 billion for a net selling position of P427.704 million.

More than 2.825 billion shares, valued at P8.953 billion, changed hands. Decliners led advancers, 124 to 81, and 33 issues remained the same.

Week-on-week, the PSEi shed 26.46 points or 0.33 percent from 7,841.99 on May 5. Year-to-date, it surged by 974.89 points or 14.25 percent from 6,840.64 on December 29, the last trading day of 2016. — VDS, GMA News