EDC share sale powers index recovery

MANILA, Philippines - The stock market recovered yesterday, buoyed by the jump in share prices of the Lopez family’s Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and First Gen Corp. after announcing the sale of a stake in EDC.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) gained 56.16 points, or 0.71 percent, to finish at 7,932.82 while the broader All Shares gauge edged higher 19.81 points, or 0.42 percent, to 4,734.38.

The rest of the counters all closed in positive territory except for the mining and oil.

Total value turnover reached P6.36 billion. Decliners outnumbered gainers, 101 to 93 while 50 issues were left unchanged.

EDC shares closed 6.90 percent, up 15.97 percent while First Gen shares gained 6.13 percent to finish at P18.36 per share.

This after Lopez-led First Gen announced yesterday it was selling its 31.5 percent stake in subsidiary EDC to the Philippine Renewable Energy Holdings Corp., a consortium of investment fund managers managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Arran Investment Pte Ltd. of Singapore-based GIC for P64.5 billion.

First Gen said it entered into an implementation agreement with Philippine Renewable Energy Holdings Corp., which offered to buy up to 8.9 billion common shares of EDC for P7.25 each.