PSE suspends Unioil, Philab trading

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday suspended trading on two companies—holding firm Unioil Resources & Holdings Co. Inc. and biotech company Philab Holdings Corp.—both for failing to comply with the reportorial requirements of the bourse.

In a circular, the PSE cited Section 17.8 on “Sanctions for Non-Compliance with Certain Structured Reportorial Requirements of the Disclosure Rules,” which stated that “failure by the issuer to comply with the requirements of the exchange will result in the automatic suspension of the trading of the issuer’s shares for a maximum of three months.”

In separate circulars, the PSE noted Unioil’s and Philab’s failure to submit their annual reports for 2017.

Unioil, which is 40.65-percent owned by the public and listed under the ticker UNI, is valued by the market at P391 million. The company was listed in 1987.

Philab, which is listed under the ticker DNA, is valued by the market at about P5.9 billion. It has a public float of 15.11 percent.  The firm entered the market via the backdoor-listing scheme in 2016 using Alterra Capital Partners Inc. (ALT) as its vehicle.—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA