PSE suspends 5 firms for failure to submit reports

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will suspend trading in five listed companies starting today for their failure to submit required financial statements on time.

According to PSE senior vice president Jose Cervantes, the suspension was originally slated to take effect yesterday (July15) but was re-scheduled due to the simultaneous holding of the Barangay and SK elections, proclaimed as a special non-working holiday nationwide.

The five companies – Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development corp., Fil-Estate Corp., Music Corp., Philippine National Construction Corp., and wise Holdings Inc. – were earlier warned of the suspension and given until today to comply with the said requirements to avoid the trade stoppage.

Two other firms, Wellex Industries and DMCI Holdings Inc., were originally included in the suspension list but both were able to beat the PSE’s deadline for the submission of their financial reports.

All companies were previously cited for their failure to submit 200 copies of their respective annual reports, using the standard SEC Form 17-A, for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2001, as well as pay the corresponding daily fines amounting to at least P50,000 each.

Another listed firm, AGP Industrial Corp., has remained suspended since March 1 not only for a similar non-compliance with the structured reportorial requirements but also pending its disclosure on the replacement of its stock transfer agent BPI Stock Transfer Agency which had resigned.

Among these companies, several have been repeatedly failing to submit their financial reports on the prescribed deadline and extension periods, namely PNCC, Atlas, Wellex, Wise and Fil-Estate, as problems and backlogs particularly with regard to their respective corporate restructuring have delayed their submission.

The bourse, together with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been tightening its monitoring and compliance efforts to get rid of companies that have been remiss or deliberately withholding vital financial information to the public.