PSE posts 33.4% free float level in Q1

The free float level in the local stock market increased in the first quarter of 2013 as more companies complied with the minimum public ownership (MPO) level of 10 percent, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said Thursday. In a recent study of the PSE, the free float level in the local stock market increased to 33.4 percent during the period, higher than the 30 percent public hands representing total domestic market capitalization. The increase in the share of market free float represents an estimated additional P400 billion worth of shares being owned by the public shareholders. PSE president and CEO Hans B. Sicat said the MPO program “has been successful.” “The figures show that not only are there lesser non-MPO compliant companies, the program has also proved to increase the shares in the hands of public shareholders,” he said in a statement. The PSE reimposed the MPO level of 10 percent for listed companies in November 2011 to help improve liquidity and increase public participation in the local capital markets. Firms that fail to meet the 10 percent public float by the end of June 2013 shall be delisted from the roster of listed companies in the Exchange. From a total of 45 non-MPO compliant companies by the end of 2011, there are now only six companies that have yet to meet the MPO requirement of the Exchange and these include Philcomsat Holdings Corporation (9.60 percent), Southeast Asia Cement Holdings, Inc. (2.41 percent), Cosmos Bottling Corporation (1.79 percent), Nextstage, Inc. (1.20 percent), PAL Holdings, Inc. (0.55 percent), and PNOC Exploration Corporation (0.21 percent). “By and large, the reinstatement of the MPO rule has achieved the goals both from the governance perspective and the objective to increase liquidity in the market. Moving forward, we will continue to assess the optimal level of the MPO requirement for listed companies in line with industry standards and the needs of the market,” Sicat said. Even as the MPO level is pegged at 10 percent, the PSE has already moved in 2011 to set a higher MPO requirement of 12 percent for companies to be considered for inclusion in the main index, the PSEi. — Danessa O. Rivera/BM, GMA News