PSEi falters, stays afloat 7,500

The unified PSE trading floor in BGC

The local stock barometer slipped on Monday as investors digested a string of local corporate developments and the latest stream of first quarter earnings results.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) shed 12.91 points or 0.17 percent to close at 7,533.28 in thin trade. Regional markets were mixed.

The mining/oil counter was the most battered, declining by 2.88 percent, while the financial, holding firm and property counters also slipped.

The industrial and services counters ended slightly higher.

There were 92 decliners that edged out 89 advancers while 46 stocks were unchanged.

The PSEi was weighed down most by Semirara, which fell by 5.15 percent. The company disclosed that unit 3 of Sem-Calaca power plants will be on extended 90-day outage to allow full machine repair completion. This unit has been shut down since March 6 this year.

LTG fell by 3.65 percent ahead of the Lucio Tan-led conglomerate’s stockholders meeting.

SM Investments fell by 1.15 percent while property arm SM Prime slipped by 0.15 percent. The latter reported a 15-percent growth in first quarter net profit to P7.6 billion.

BPI fell by 0.76 percent after reporting that first quarter net profit was flat at P6.25 billion as the rise in expenses outpaced revenue growth.

Security Bank fell by 2.73 percent. Ayala Land and Metrobank also contributed to the decline.

On the other hand, Globe Telecom surged by 7.12 percent after reporting that first quarter core profits were up by 29 percent to P4.8 billion. Parent conglomerate Ayala Corp. also gained 1.42 percent.

BDO, Meralco, URC and GT Capital also gained.

Outside of the PSEi, notable gainers included 8990 Holdings, which rose by another 3.81 percent. For the second straight session, it was the day’s most actively traded company. Another bloc of 300-million shares changed hands at P6.90 per share, same level as the price at which an earlier bloc was traded last Friday.

Biz Buzz reported that former president Januario Jesus Atencio was selling his shares in the mass housing developer to partners and Mariano Martinez and Luis Yu.

Vitarich, which is undertaking a corporate restructuring to clean up its balance sheet, gained 5.59 percent.