PSE reported 11.6% profit growth to P417.5 million in first half of 2023

The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. said net income in the first six months of 2023 grew 11.6 percent year-on-year to P417.5 million as higher investment income tempered lower listing and trading-related revenues.

It said in a statement over the weekend operating revenues went down by 12.9 percent year-on-year to P740 million as listing and trading related fees fell 20.8 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

“The capital-raising pipeline in the first half was not as robust as expected. There are offerings targeted in the next two months and hopefully, there will be additional IPOs before the year ends,” said PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon.

Capital raising from the sale of primary and secondary shares declined 40.2 percent to P36.99 billion from P61.92 billion in the same period last year.

The PSE said that from January to June this year, it oversaw two initial public offerings, two follow-on offerings, three stock rights offerings and six private placements.

The PSE had eight IPOs, one SRO and four private placements in the first half of 2022.

It said daily average value turnover in the first half slipped 4.4 percent P6.98 billion. In terms of foreign transactions, the stock market registered net foreign selling of P25.43 billion.

The PSE said it managed its costs, as total expenses increased by only 5 percent to P380.5 million.

Meanwhile, the PSE welcomed three new directors–former Trade Secretary Peter Favila, businessman Andrew Jerome Gan and PLDT director Marilyn Victorio-Aquino during the company’s annual stockholders meeting held on Saturday.

Their election completes the local bourse’s 15-man board, which was unchanged from previous year . Jose Pardo and Ramon Monzon were re-elected as chairman and president and CEO, respectively.

The PSE said wholly-owned subsidiary Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines aimed to implement shortened settlement of trades from three business days after the transaction to two business days starting Aug. 24, 2023.

The shift to the shortened settlement cycle follows SCCP’s implementation of a new clearing and settlement system in March 2023. The system was provided by LSEG Technology, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group. — Jenniffer B. Austria

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