Biz Buzz Sudden weight gain

Sudden weight gain

Shares of SM Prime Holdings—soon to be the largest property firm in Southeast Asia—sizzled on Friday on speculation that the company’s weight in the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index had surged to 6.01 percent from 3.3 percent.

This sent PSEi-tracking funds in a mad dash for SM Prime shares, boosting its price by 15.86 percent in a single day to close at P19.58 per share on Friday.

It was the most actively traded company at the local bourse.

The scramble for SM Prime shares was triggered by a wire report that picked up an alleged increase in SM Prime’s PSEi weight. Such an increase was indeed reflected on the PSE’s online database which was, however, based only on market capitalization (which fluctuates day by day) and did not reflect yet other crucial factors such as public float.

And as some investors switched from Ayala Land Inc. to SM Prime on Friday (due to perception that the latter is cheaper and can unlock more values out of an enlarged asset base), the market cap of SM Prime indeed increased.

In particular, an industry source said a large index-tracker fund serviced by Deutsche Bank bought up SM Prime shares after the “premature” report on the index weight change.

In short, it’s not true that PSE has rebalanced its main index to give a larger weight to SM Prime. The local bourse is still awaiting the official public ownership report from the companies and not yet in position to make such move.

As in the past, any rebalancing or recomposition of the PSEi would always trigger an official announcement, and these things don’t happen overnight. Such rebalancing happens only every quarter and the recomposition, semiannually.

Once the free float and trading volume are factored in, aside from the market cap, dealers said SM Prime’s PSEi weight would indeed increase to reflect a widening of its asset base, but not yet to the extent of the weight speculated by the market on Friday.

SM Prime and ALI—the hottest “frenemies” in the Philippine property scene these days—are now battling even more fiercely, not just for property deals but for the bragging rights of being the most favored property firm in the market. To date, ALI commands a premium over SM Prime, but the gap is narrowing by the day.    Doris Dumlao

‘Len’ resurfaces

Speaking of the SM group, last week saw an interesting series of print ads from the Henry Sy-controlled conglomerate which focused on the message “SM cares.”

We learned that the series of five print ads is part of a win-their-hearts-and-minds campaign of a unit of SM Foundation called, well, “SM Cares.”

And the person behind the operation? No other than former presidential chief of staff and spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn.

“Len” (as her friends and critics call her) has been with SM Cares since June this year, quietly laying the groundwork for the foundation.

It is in charge of the SM Supermalls’ corporate social responsibility thrust. Specifically, SM Cares is in charge of softening the image of the conglomerate’s mall operations which, as Henry Sy’s net worth skyrockets, have become a lightning rod for criticism on social media, for issues ranging from alleged tree cutting in Baguio to its tiff with a government agency over SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City.

In its first public relations salvo, SM Cares highlighted the fact that it pays “proper taxes” to “help government provide education opportunities” (ostensibly to counter the contention of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority that the SM Aura issue had deprived the military of much needed funds).

SM Cares also highlighted its water recycling efforts, the malls’ accessibility features for people with special needs, efforts to reduce flooding in communities, and employment practices that prioritize the local population.

Is her corporate stint just a temporary break from government service?

“No more for me,” said Bautista. “I’m totally focused on this now.”  Daxim L. Lucas

2013 Bell Awards

With the year drawing to a close, it’s time again for the Philippine Stock Exchange to recognize publicly listed companies and trading participants that adhere to high standards of corporate governance.

The 2013 PSE Bell Awards ceremony will take place on Nov. 19 at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City. This will be the 2nd annual Bell Awards after PSE launched this initiative last year during the 20th anniversary of the bourse (which was, in turn, born from the unification of its predecessors, the Makati and Manila stock exchanges).

The publicly listed companies are evaluated on how well they adopt and incorporate the PSE’s corporate governance guidelines for listed companies, as well as their compliance to listing and disclosure rules. Trading participants, on the other hand, are assessed based on their performance in regulatory audits, compliance to market regulations and trading rules.

“Corporate governance is integral to what we do here at the PSE. By formally recognizing listed companies and trading participants through the Bell Awards, we would like to emphasize the need to uphold good governance practices and to show that the exchange is a co-advocate of corporate governance, together with the government and the private sector,” PSE president Hans Sicat said.

Last year’s awardees among public companies were Ayala Land Inc., China Banking Corp., Globe Telecoms Inc., Manila Water Company Inc., and SM Prime Holdings. Among trading participants, the awardees were CLSA Philippines, COL Financial Group, and Macquarie Securities Philippines for the large trading participants category, while Armstrong Securities, PCIB Securities and Tri-State Securities were the awardees for the small trading participants category.  Doris Dumlao

Real reason?

FOR some weeks now, word has been going around that Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares would be replaced or transferred to another agency, supposedly at the behest of the influential Iglesia ni Cristo religious sect.

That rumor has now been put to rest after President Aquino declared last week that he was satisfied with Henares’ performance as the country’s top tax collector.

The mystery remains, however, as to who was responsible for spreading the word about Henares’ supposed exit.

As it turned out, however, it wasn’t the INC that was behind it, but someone else.

According to our sources, a certain influential business firm had spread the rumor in the hopes of it becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The reason? That company wanted to enjoy tax perks for one of its projects—something the BIR chief thumbed down.  Daxim L. Lucas

New ramen brand comes to town

After bringing in to the country such concepts as IHOP, P.F. Chang’s, California Pizza Kitchen and Morelli’s, the restaurant group headed by Archie Rodriguez is ready to introduce to Filipinos yet another concept—Ramen Iroha.

And before you think it is just another ramen place with a concept similar to any number of such establishments that have recently cropped up, this one is the baby of Chef Kiyoshi Kurihara, considered the top ramen chef of Japan.

Chef Kurihara won the Tokyo Ramen competition for four years in a row, from 2009 to 2011.

According to Rodriguez, president and CEO of Global Restaurant Concepts Inc., no other Japanese chef or brand has been able to do this.

“I am so proud and excited to be able to partner with him in the Philippines,” says Rodriguez. Tina Arceo-Dumlao

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