PNOC-EC eyes follow-on stock offer by Dec. 10

PNOC Exploration Corp., the upstream oil and coal arm of the state-run Philippine National Oil Co., is planning to start its follow-on offering on December 10 this year to allow it to comply with the listing requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“Our target is stay listed at the PSE. We are aware of the deadline, which is Dec. 31, 2012, and we are doing our best to comply. We are already finishing the review of our financial statements,” according to PNOC-EC chief of staff Silvestre Punsalan III.

According to Punsalan, PNOC-EC was targetting to file with the PSE by the second week of October its plan to offer 217.8 million primary shares in compliance with the 10-percent minimum public float requirement of the local bourse.

PNOC-EC’s current public float stands at 0.21 percent or 4.47 million shares as the government owns the remaining shares of the company. To comply with the 10-percent public ownership rule, the company needs to sell 9.9 percent of its total shares or 217.76 million shares to the public.

“So that may take one month to secure PSE approval and then we would need time to do marketing. Our target is to start the offering on Dec. 10, that is, if there will be no delays. Again, it depends on market conditions and if we get the go-ahead from the Privatization Management Office and the Department of Finance,” Punsalan explained.

Should there be any delays that would hinder PNOC-EC from starting its offering on Dec. 10, PNOC-EC plans to seek the permission to offer its shares by the third week of January as, traditionally, there is hardly any trade in the first two weeks of that month.

PNOC-EC is awaiting the evaluation being conducted by UBS AG, its financial adviser, sole underwriter and global coordinator for the planned additional public offering.

PNOC-EC chairman and CEO Gemiliano Lopez Jr. earlier noted that the secondary offering would not only be for compliance. It was expected to likewise “boost its capitalization, enabling it to enhance its capability to discover and develop more indigenous energy sources like oil, coal and gas.”