San Miguel Brewery looks into delisting from PSE

San Miguel Brewery Inc., the country's oldest and biggest beer producer, on Wednesday said it is looking into voluntarily delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange as it remains non-compliant with the 10 percent minimum free float rule. 

 

In a disclosure to the bourse, the brewery said it “confirms that voluntary delisting is an option that is being considered following the denial of the company's request for extension to comply with the Minimum Public Ownership Rule.”

 

San Miguel Brewery is one of the seven listed companies that were suspended on Wednesday for having a public float below 10 percent. The others are: Allied Banking Corp., Alphaland Corp., PAL Holdings Inc., PNOC Exploration Corp., San Miguel Properties Inc. and Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc.

 

The beer maker has a free float of 0.61 percent as of Dec. 28 2012. The exchange has been denied a request to extend the deadline for compliance with the public ownership rule that lapsed last week.

 

Three other companies with free floats below 10 percent – Cosmos Bottling Corporation, Next Stage Inc., and Philcomsat Holdings Corporation – were earlier suspended for other reasons. 

 

Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp., the vehicle for Australia's Melco Crown Entertainment Limited's businesses in the Philippines, avoided suspension after it raised its public float to 11.84 percent in a last-minute share sale on Dec. 28.

 

Non-compliant firms are suspended until June 2013. They will be delisted from the PSE should they fail to raise their public float to at least 10 percent within six-month suspension period. 

 

Last month, the Bureau of Internal Revenue issued Revenue Regulation 16-2012 raising the capital gains tax on shares of publicly listed companies traded on the PSE to 5 percent for transactions up to  P100,000 and 10 percent for trades that exceed P100,000. The rule, which took effect on Jan. 1, 2013, covered companies that are non-compliant with the 10-percent public float rule. 

 

Trades involving shares of compliant firms carry a 1-percent transaction tax on the gross value of the trade. — Siegfrid Alegado/VS, GMA News