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The Philippine Stock Exchange board has approved the
ownership restructuring plan that would allow the bourse to comply
with the 20-percent industry limit imposed under the Securities and
Regulation Code.
Under the restructuring plan, the
PSE would issue primary shares of up to 25 percent of the
outstanding capital stock of the organization. In addition, the
bourse would create and issue warrants that would not result in a
dilution of more than 10 percent with a strike price of 120 percent
to 150 percent with maturity of three years.
The board has yet to set the
terms and conditions that would govern the sale of primary shares
and warrants, the PSE disclosed. JP Morgan has been engaged as the
financial adviser and underwriter for the aforementioned issuances.
As a listed firm, the PSE is
mandated to bring down to 20 percent from 45 percent the direct and
indirect ownership or control of voting rights of any industry or
business group as stated in the SRC. The PSE has been paying
penalties since it failed to meet SEC’s July 20 deadline last
year.
Besides the restructuring plan,
the PSE board has also approved the employee stock purchase plan
wherein 150,000 shares or about 1 percent of its outstanding capital
stock would be sold to all regular employees in good standing with
at least 1 year of service.
The offer period is for three
years exercisable from July to December annually with 10 percent
discount from the offer price fixed on volume weighted average price
of PSE shares of the month preceding the offer dates.
The board has also declared a
cash dividend of P20 per share, broken down to P14 per share regular
dividend and P6 per share special dividend to stockholders of record
date April 15, 2008 and payable not later than May 15.
Furthermore, the board has also
approved the declaration of 100 percent stock dividend payable on
the date yet to be fixed by the SEC to fund the increase in the
authorized capital stock from P36.8 million to P97.8 million. The
approved increase is divided into 97.8 million common shares with
par value P1.00 each, at least 25 percent of which would be
subscribed and paid for by the 100-percent stock dividend equivalent
to 15.28 million shares.
This is the sixth straight time
since 2003 that the PSE has declared cash dividends. The latest
dividend declaration has brought the total amount of cash dividends
declared to P822.2 million since it started, the PSE said in a
statement.
Last year, PSE’s consolidated
net income grew by 86.6 percent to a record P433.42 million year on
year on the back of higher value turnover of P1.34 trillion.
Proceeds from various offerings and other capital-raising activities
also jumped to a historic high of P90.13 billion in 2007 from P57.23
billion a year earlier.
--Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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