SM Prime, SM Investments market cap now below P1 trillion

PSE trading floor in BGC

The two most valuable Philippine companies have lost their P1-trillion market capitalization status as investors across the globe fled away from stocks amid the worsening coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

SM Prime Holdings, one of the largest property developers in Southeast Asia, was valued by the stock market at P779.74 billion as of March 19.

Parent conglomerate SM Investments Corp. now has a market capitalization of P803.46 billion.

Both SM Prime and SM Investments first breached a market cap of P1 trillion each in 2017. They were so far the only local companies that had ever attained such valuation in the stock market.

At its closing price of P27 per share, SM Prime’s share price has fallen by 37.8 percent from its 52-week high of P43.3 per share.

At SM Investments’ closing price of P667 per share on March 19, its share price has gone down by 39 percent from the 52-week high of P1,100 per share.

Local stocks succumbed to their worst bloodbath in history on Thursday as coronavirus (COVID-19)-weary investors hoarded cash after a two-day market shutdown.

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) crashed by as much as 1,296.22 points or 24 percent in early trade on Thursday to break down the 5,000 barrier, before trimming losses. Nonetheless, the selling frenzy slashed 711.95 points or 13.34 percent to bring the local stock barometer to an eight-year low of 4,623.42. The local bourse became the worst performer in the region for the day.

“This selloff will continue until we see some improvement on the containment of the COVID-19 virus on our shores,” AAA Equities head of research Christopher Mangun said.