Net foreign buying surges

The local stock market attracted P109.98 billion in net foreign buying last year, nearly double the P56.52 billion a year ago, as the Philippine economy outperformed expectations despite global economic uncertainties.

The Philippine Stock Exchange also reported that capital raised through the stock market reached a new high of P219.07 billion in 2012. This was 103.8 percent higher than the amount raised in 2011 through initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, stock rights offering and private placements.

“The stock market’s performance in 2012 re-wrote the record books in a big way, as seen in the new highs we’ve experienced across almost all market indicators. Investor confidence in Philippines Inc. is also at an all-time high, and this can only serve to strengthen our market as we tackle new challenges and opportunities in 2013,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in a statement.

Five companies conducted their initial public offerings in 2012, raising a total of P23.99 billion from the market while two firms listed by way of introduction. In the meantime, capital proceeds from private placements, stock rights offerings and follow-on offerings amounted to P50.38 billion, P52.07 billion and P92.64 billion, respectively.

The total value turnover last year also registered a new high for the exchange at P1.77 trillion, 24.5 percent higher than the previous year’s level. The increase coincided with the extension of the PSE trading hours up to 3:30 p.m.

The combined market capitalization of listed issues in the PSE at the end of the year reached P10.93 trillion, up by 25.7 percent from the 2011 level.

At the end of 2012, the PSEi set records 38 times and posted an annual growth of 33 percent. In Asia, the PSEi ranked the second-best performer behind Thailand’s SET Index at the close of last year, followed by the benchmark indices of India, Japan and Hong Kong. The PSEi was the region’s best performer in 2011.

In terms of sectoral indices, the financial index was the best performer in 2012 with its 57.5-percent rise. This was followed by the property index (up 55.6 percent), holding firms index (up 47 percent), industrial index (up 25.5 percent), and services index (up 6.7 percent). Only the mining and oil index declined (down by 17.4 percent) last year.

“What’s most encouraging amidst the record-breaking numbers is that there’s still room to keep growing. The government continues to steer the economy to promising levels of sustained growth. For our part, the PSE has lined up several initiatives in the coming months to take advantage of the favorable business environment,” Sicat said.

“Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a positive transformational phase that will lift the capital market to the next stage of competitiveness. It’s definitely an exciting time right now for the Philippines,” Sicat said.