SMC plans to list all subsidiaries on local stock exchange

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel Corp. plans to lead all of its major businesses into public listing debuts but sees itself remaining on the roster of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“The company contemplates to list all its operating subsidiaries, inclusive of the new businesses,” SMC chief finance officer and corporate information officer Ferdinand Constantino said in a disclosure to the PSE.

“SMC shall remain listed, owing to its iconic status in the country,” Constantino added.

The disclosure was in reaction to a wire report quoting SMC president Ramon Ang as saying that if he had his way, he would have SMC delisted from the local bourse. The report suggested that the PSE’s disclosure requirements were constraining its conduct of business.

The news raised eyebrows from many stock brokers and investors, especially since SMC has only recently widened its public float and is set to rejoin the main-share PSE index by Sept. 12.

Apart from the parent company San Miguel Corp., its beer (San Miguel Brewery), food (San Miguel Pure Foods), property (San Miguel Properties) and oil refining (Petron Corp.) units are listed on the local stock exchange.

SMC shares were up by nearly 1 percent on Thursday to close at P122 per share, giving it a market capitalization of P285.98 billion.

Its power generation unit, SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., recently filed an application to go public by offering as much as P35.5 billion worth of shares to the public.

Apart from the power unit, among SMC’s operating units that are privately held at present are its packaging and banking (Bank of Commerce) businesses.