Security Bank joins stock exchange index

Security Bank Corp. is making its debut as a Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) member on Sept. 12, replacing integrated gaming resort developer Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Based on the PSE’s latest rebalancing of the 30-company main index, Security Bank has qualified to join the basket of the most traded, most liquid and well-capitalized listed firms in the country.

The PSEi represents the top 30 of the 265 companies listed on the local bourse.

In a memorandum, PSE president Hans Sicat said the latest rebalancing of the index was based on the results of the regular review of the PSEi and the sector indices covering trading activity from July 2015 to June 2016.

To qualify, Sicat said listed firms must maintain a free float level of at least 12 percent. Free float, also known as public float, refers to the portion of the outstanding shares that are freely available and tradable in the market.

Also, PSEi companies must be among the top 25 percent most traded company by median daily value per month for at least nine out of 12 months.

In choosing companies that will compose the sector indices, they must also land on the top 30 list based on market capitalization.

Security Bank, to date, has a market capitalization of more than P160 billion, two times larger than Bloomberry’s P68 billion.

Shares of Bloomberry slid by 13.53 percent Wednesday on news of the PSEi rebalancing while Security Bank’s shares rose by 2.44 percent.

This makes Security Bank the fourth bank to be included in the PSEi, after BDO Unibank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Earlier this year, Security Bank also made a debut in the closely tracked MSCI Philippines index, leveling up from the “small cap” category in what global fund managers regard as the golden benchmark for equities investing.

Recently, Japan’s largest banking group Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (BTMU) bought a 20 percent stake in Security Bank for P36.9 billion, touted as a “game-changing” partnership seen to catapult the local bank to be among the country’s largest lenders. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla