LAST MINUTE. Erring listed firms either comply or delist their shares as the deadline looms. Photo by AFP

MANILA, Philippines - As the yearend deadline for complying with the Philippine Stock Exchange's (PSE) rule of having at least 10% public ownership nears, listed firms move to sell shares or voluntarily delist.

Firms that remain non-compliant, but do not intend to voluntarily delist their shares have until December 31 to comply with the requirement or else, they will be suspended.

The trading suspension will last for 6 months. If after this period the firms still fail to comply, they will be automatically delisted.

Below is an inventory of the status of the 25 errant firms in PSE's December 7 list.

As of Friday, December 21, 12 firms fall short of the minimum public ownership requirement. They are:

• Alphaland Corp. (8.03%)
• Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp. (6.79%)
• Southeast Asia Cement Holdings Inc. (2.41%)
• PAL Holdings Inc. (2.30%)
• Allied Banking Corp. Convertible Preferred A (1.51%)
• Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corp. (0.89%)
• San Miguel Brewery Inc. (0.61%)
• PNOC Exploration Corp. (0.21%)
• San Miguel Properties Inc. (0.06%)
• Philcomsat Holdings Corp. (9.60%)
• Cosmos Bottling Corp. (1.79%)
• Nextstage Inc. (1.20%)

Those that are now compliant after selling shares to the public include:

• Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (10.07% from 8.53%)
• Synergy Grid & Development Phils. (12.49% from 7.44%)
• LT Group Inc. (10.41% from 4.75%)
• SPC Power Corp. (10.08% from 4.53%)
• Vivant Corp. (11.02% from 4.18%)
• Atok-Big Wedge Company Inc. (10.05% from 4.16%)
• Mariwasa Siam Holdings Inc. (13.70% from 3.89%)
• Filinvest Development Corp. (10.16% from 3.35%)
• 2GO Group Inc. (11.66% from 1.85%)
• GlobalPort 900 Inc. (10.82% from 0.12%)

Those that have voluntarily delisted are:

• First Metro Investment Corp. (1.94%)
• Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (0.15%)

One company, Lucio Tan-led Eton Properties Philippines Inc., has gotten the approval of the PSE to delist its shares on January 2. Eton's public float stands at 2.54%.

Aside from being suspended, float-deficient firms will face higher taxes for share deals outside the exchange, starting January, the Bureau of Internal Revenue previously said. These taxes include 5% or 10% capital gains tax and documentary stamp tax. - Rappler.com