Aboitiz-Jera deal drags PSEi down

The local stock barometer tumbled to the 6,800 territory on Tuesday, weighed down by Aboitiz companies that fell after announcing a deal to sell 27 percent of the flagship power unit to Japanese power firm Jera Co. Inc..

Value turnover at the stock market surged to P15 billion, buoyed by a P6-billion block sale on consumer powerhouse Monde Nissin. About P5 billion of Monde’s shares changed hands at P18.80 per share.

There was a Bloomberg report that an institutional investor of Monde was selling shares in the newly-listed company.

Monde, the day’s most actively traded company, fell by 8.05 percent to close at P18.62 per share.

SM gains temper fall

The main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) lost 70.9 points or 1.02 percent to close at 6,885.36. It was dragged down mainly by Aboitiz Power, which fell by 9.65 percent while AEV dropped by 10.55 percent.

While Jera’s buy-in price was above market price, it was deemed lower than some analysts’ fair valuation on the company. Meanwhile, AEV slid as investors priced in the reduction in its future share of AP’s earnings with the reduction of its interest in Aboitiz Power. (See separate story on the deal.)

By counter, the market was dragged down by the industrial, holding firm, services and mining/oil counters, which all slid by over 1 percent.

The financial and property counters gained marginally.

There were 135 decliners that overwhelmed 75 advancers, while 38 stocks were unchanged.

Meanwhile, ICTSI and AC Energy likewise lost 4.31 percent and 3.31 percent, respectively.

Ayala Land and Ayala Corp. both added more than 2 percent, while URC, PLDT, Metrobank and LTG all declined by more than 1 percent.

Converge and Globe Telecom both shed less than 1 percent.

Aside from Monde Nissin, other notable decliners outside the PSEi were GMA7 and Nickel Asia, which fell by 1.28 percent and 2.91 percent, respectively.

The PSEi’s decline was tempered by the gains eked out by index heavyweights SM Investments and SM Prime, which added 1.77 percent and 2.15 percent, respectively.

Puregold also rose by 1.62 percent, while BDO and GT Capital firmed up by less than 1 percent. INQ