25 firms fall short of public float rule

Twenty five companies are still unable to meet the minimum public ownership requirement of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Latest submissions of listed firms published by the PSE on its Web site showed these companies had public float of less than 10 percent as of end-June 2012.

These companies included San Miguel Corp.’s subsidiaries San Miguel Pure Foods Co. Inc., San Miguel Properties Inc. and San Miguel Brewery Inc. as well as Eton Properties Philippines Inc., PAL Holdings Inc., Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank of taipan Lucio Tan-owned

Companies associated with investment banker Roberto Ongpin, namely Atok Big Wedge Co. Inc. and Alphaland Corp., also had public ownership of less than 10 percent.

Other companies in the list include First Metro Investments Corp., Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp., SPC Power Corp., Vivant Corp., Alaska Milk Corp., Cosmos Bottling Corp., Lafarge Republic Cement, Mariwasa Siam Holdings, and Manchester International Holdings Unlimited.

Also included are Integrated Microelectronics Inc., Filinvest Development Corp., Synergy Grid & Development Philippines Inc., Sta. Lucia Land Inc., 2GO Group Inc., JTH Davies Holdings Inc., Global Port 900 Inc. and PNOC-Exploration Corp.

The PSE is giving listed companies until the end of 2012 to comply with the 10-percent minimum public ownership rule.

It said companies failing to comply by the end of the year will face trading suspension for a period of not more than six months. After the six-month period, the continued non-compliance will result in delisting. –Jenniffer B. Austria, Manila Standard Today