Traders dump DHI’s shares after 4-year suspension

Trading of Dominion Holdings Inc.’s (DHI) shares finally resumed Tuesday after more than four years, but traders took it as an opportunity to dump their long-held stocks, forcing the BDO-led firm’s price to fall by more than 41 percent within two days.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) lifted the trading suspension Tuesday after DHI submitted regulatory requirements in relation to the change in its primary purpose.

Immediately upon lifting, share prices plunged by 39 percent to P1.93 each. On Wednesday, prices went further south to P1.86 apiece, for a two-day slump of 41 percent.

BDO, the banking arm of the SM Group, currently owns 88.54 percent of DHI.

Formerly called BDO Leasing and Finance Inc., DHI filed for voluntary trading suspension on Jan. 27, 2020, leaving minority shareholders stuck with their holdings for more than four years.

Shifting purpose

In justifying the suspension, the company’s board said it was only shifting its business’ purpose from leasing and financing to a holding company. DHI had clarified it did not undergo a financial restructuring, insolvency proceeding nor corporate rehabilitation during its suspension.

DHI had said it would continue investing its financial assets “in money market placements, debt securities and other short-term but high-yielding instruments.”

In March 2022, the company’s board approved a proposal to change its name to DHI after it was converted into a holding company. Stockholders approved this on April 20 the same year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission likewise gave the green light to the amendments to DHI’s article of incorporation in July 2022.

In the first half of the year, the company’s earnings inched up by 7.34 percent to P134.48 million as revenues grew.

Its 2023 net income of P277.3 million, which quadrupled from P69.26 million, was mainly derived from interest earnings on deposits and debt securities, DHI said in its disclosure.