THE Philippine capital market is seen to make a strong recovery from the current conditions brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said companies continue to receive strong support from the investing public.
“We are optimistic that the Philippine capital market will make a strong recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said in an emailed statement.
“We take the success of recent fundraising activities as one indication of the investing public’s continued confidence in the strength and resilience of our corporate sector, capital market and economy as a whole, especially with the reinforcements coming from the government,” he added.
Public offerings were recently made by corporations such as SM Prime Holdings Inc even with the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
As of last Apr. 8, 2020, the last trading day of last week due to the Holy Week holidays, the local benchmark index was down 2.46 percent to 5,510.83.
Meanwhile, the Philippine peso closed the same day at P50.585:$1, marking an appreciation of 9.5 centavos from the previous close of P50.68:$1.
“The recent decline and the lingering uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in the stock market under The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. (PSE) and the bond market under the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) have failed to keep companies from tapping the capital market,” the SEC said in a statement.
In its statement, the SEC noted that companies such as Aboitiz Power Corp. intends to proceed with the issuance of the fourth tranche of its P30-billion worth of fixed-rate bonds under shelf registration.
The company looks to issue P9.55-billion worth of fixed-rate retail bonds within the quarter or the next.
“We are hopeful that the Philippine capital market will come out stronger and even more resilient in the end. As such, it can better contribute to the promotion of financial inclusion and wealth democratization toward the fulfillment of our shared aspiration for a secure, comfortable life for Filipinos,” Aquino said.(GMA News)
