By Ian C. Sayson
Bloomberg
PHILIPPINE stocks rose to the highest in almost a decade after the central bank raised its foreign-exchange reserves forecast.
“The higher forecast is a good sign,” said Paul Garcia, who oversees $1.4 billion of assets as chief investment officer at ING Investment Management Philippines in Manila. “Investors are not putting money into markets that they are not comfortable with.”
Filinvest Development Corp. had its biggest jump in a year after a unit set a higher-than-expected price for the sale of 5.4 billion shares. Manila Mining Corp. gained after the government said Anglo American Plc will spend $10 million to explore for gold and copper in a property owned by the unprofitable Philippine miner.
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index closed up 56.10, or 1.8 percent higher, to 3141.28 at the close, its highest since April 2, 1997. The measure posted its biggest climb this year, after advancing 1.4 percent in the previous two sessions. It has gained 5.3 percent this year, Southeast Asia’s best performer.
Rising exports, investments and remittances will raise the nation’s foreign-currency reserves this year to a record $25 billion, central bank Governor Amando Tetangco said Sunday. The forecast is higher than the $24 billion the central bank gave as guidance in November.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), the nation’s largest company by market value, advanced P50, or 2 percent, to 2600, its highest ever. Bank of the Philippine Islands, the nation’s most profitable lender, gained P2, or 2.9 percent, to a record P70. Ayala Corp., the nation’s third-largest company by market value, added P10, or 1.7 percent, to 595.
Remittances, exports
“HIGHER remittances, exports and investments bode well for the economy and the peso,’’ said Garcia, who predicts the benchmark stock index will reach a record 3,500 this year.
Filinvest Development climbed 50 centavos, or 11 percent, to P4.95, ending a four-day, 5.3-percent decline. That’s the biggest gain since March 21. The company is selling 1.7 billion shares in Filinvest Land Inc., which will resume trading February 6, after its shares were suspended from Monday.
Filinvest Land, which is selling a further 3.7 billion shares, said at the weekend they will be sold at P1.6 each, a 5.8-percent discount to average price in the 10 days ended January 9. That’s higher than the maximum 10-percent discount at which Filinvest Land originally said it would price the shares.
“This shows that there is demand for the shares,” said James Lago, head of research at Westlink Global Equities in Manila. “It’s a reasonable price.”
Builders, miners
GARCIA said the Filinvest Land stake sale is boosting investor interest in Philippine builders such as Ayala Land Inc. and Megaworld Corp.
Ayala Land, the nation’s biggest builder, added 50 centavos, or 3.1 percent, at P16.50. Megaworld, the nation’s largest builder of residential and office condominiums, gained 2 centavos, or 0.9 percent, to P2.36.
Manila Mining’s class A shares, which are reserved for Filipinos, gained 0.1 centavo, or 3.9 percent, to 2.7 centavos. Its class B shares, which have no ownership restrictions, lost 0.1 centavo, or 3.3 percent, to 2.9 centavos.
Manila Mining and Anglo American have signed a joint venture agreement allowing the world’s second-biggest mining company by sales to explore for copper and gold in a 286-million hectare property owned by the Philippine company.
Philex Mining Corp., which has a property next to Manila Mining, where Anglo American is also exploring for gold and copper, added 20 centavos, or 5.6 percent, to P3.75, snapping a three-day, 6.6-percent loss.
Shares worth P2.72 billion were traded, 2.6-percent more than the six-month daily average. Gainers beat losers 95 to 34, with 45 stocks unchanged in the broader market.
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