PSEi, PAL Holdings soar on US, EU moves

MANILA, Philippines – The main index of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) and the shares of the parent of Philippine Airlines (PAL) boath soared on Friday, July 12.

The PSEi breached 6,500 rallying by 166.85 point or 2.6% to close the week at 6,574.21.

Cited for perking up the market were the Wall St. gains and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s pledge to maintain the Fed’s easy-money policy for the foreseeable future. 

PAL Holdings

The share price of PAL Holdings Inc., the listed parent firm of legacy carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), zoomed by as much as 50% on Friday, the first trading day since after it was suspended in January for not having met the required public float. 

The PSE lifted the trading suspension after it said PAL Holdings float has been increased to 10.22% from less than 1%, following a recent share sale.

Shares in PAL Holdings rose to as high as P7.35 from its last closing price of P4.90 pesos on Dec. 28, 2012.

It settled at P6.95, up 41.84%, at the end of the trading day. 

In January, PAL Holdings, together with several non-compliant companies, were given by regulators until June 30 to comply with the MPO rule. Failure to meet the deadline would have resulted in automatic delisting from the bourse.

PAL Holdings sought the lifting, saying it complied with the 10% MPO requirement before the deadline set by regulators expired.

Investors were also responding to the July 10 news that the European Union has announced that it will allow PAL to fly to the 28-nation bloc partially lifting a ban imposed on the Philippines. 

EU Ambassador to the Philippines, Guy Ledoux announced in a press briefing that the ban which was imposed on the Philippines in 2010 will be partially lifted in recognition of the country’s efforts in addressing air safety concerns. 

Following this announcement PAL announced that it will start flying to Europe by September or October.

PAL is now the only local carrier that is able to fly to the EU as the ban has not been lifted from the other airlines.

PAL’s president, Ramon Ang said their European destinations will include Amsterdam, London, Paris and Rome.

PAL Holdings is jointly owned by taipan Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. – Rappler.com