Funds raised via PSE jumped 21% in 2015

Despite greater financial market volatility and emerging markets turning out of flavor in 2015, capital raising at the Philippine Stock Exchange this year reached P184.6 billion, the second highest in the local bourse’s history.

The amount of capital raised at the PSE for 2015 rose by 20.9 percent from P153.08 billion in 2014.  The record-high capital-raising at the local bourse happened in 2012, when about P219.07 billion was raised from activities ranging from initial public offerings (IPO), follow-on offerings and private placements.

In 2015, four companies debuted on the PSE.  These are Bulacan-based plastic compound and pipe manufacturer Crown Asia Chemicals Corp.; chemical trading and distribution firm SBS Philippines Corp.; the country’s fourth largest retailer, Metro Retail Stores Group Inc., and boutique property developer Italpinas Development Corp.

“We expect that the stock market will continue to be a preferred venue for fund raising activities of both listed companies and privately owned firms that are considering listing at the exchange,” said PSE president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat.

The market’s average daily turnover rose by 1.8 percent to P8.96 billion in 2015 from P8.8 billion in the previous year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange closed 2015 in a bearish note, ending a six-year run-up, as investors braced for global headwinds and greater domestic political noise in the coming year.

For the full year, the Philippine Stock Exchange index lost a total of 278.49 points or 3.85 percent to close at 6,952.08 on Tuesday, the last trading day of the year.

Apart from external headwinds arising from China’s economic woes and the start of the interest rate increases in the US, investors point to the 2016 presidential election as a domestic source of uncertainties in the coming year.

For its part, the PSE still hopes to see continued capital raising activities and product offerings in 2016.

“We look at 2016 with optimism and we hope market indicators will improve next year. We expect that the country’s solid macro-economic fundamentals will continue to drive stock market growth, aided by election-related and infrastructure spending,” Sicat said.

The PSE is also working on its request for exemptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission to acquire additional shares in Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS). It has made plans to buy out other shareholders in PDS—the holding firm for fixed-income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), Philippine Depositary and Trust Corp. (PDTC) and Philippine Securities Settlement Corp.—to pave the way for the consolidation of the local capital market infrastructure.

The closure of the deal was tied to the SEC’s waiver of the 20 percent limit on ownership by the PSE of what would be the country’s unified capital market structure.

In the meantime, the PSE also vowed to continue its corporate governance initiatives, including the PSE Bell Awards. It has started working with the PPP (Public Private Partnership) Center to find ways for the stock market to be a venue in raising capital for infrastructure projects using the PPP framework.

The PSE has also vowed to continue conducting various market education and financial literacy programs.