Aussie mining firms keen on listing shares at PSE

Encouraged by the upbeat performance of Philippine mining stocks and the industry as a whole, five Australian mining companies have signified interest to list at the Philippine Stock Exchange, bourse president and chief executive officer Francis Lim said.

Lim, who joined the delegation to a four-day roadshow on the Phililippine mining industry hosted by the Philippines-Australia Business Council and the Australia-Filipino Chamber of Commerce Queensland last week in Sydney and Melbourne, said the five Australia-based mining companies have operations in the Philippines. He, however, refused to name them.

During the roadshow, Lim urged Australian mining firms to list in the PSE to take advantage of the renewed strong interest in the Philippine mining industry following the favorable ruling handed down by the Supreme Court allowing foreigners to wholly-own large-scale mining projects in the country.

Lim cited the remarkable performance of mining issues for the first six months of the year as a reason for foreign mining companies to do business and to get listed on the PSE.

For the first half of 2005, the PSE’s mining index emerged as the best performer among the six major sectors, surging 111.2 percent to 3,109.34 points from only 1,472.07 the previous level.

"The mining sector led all other indices which also recorded substantial gains during the first semester, a clear benefit of the index from the decision of the Philippine Supreme Court last December to allow 100 percent foreign investments in the mining industry," Lim said.

Lim said the impressive turnaround of the mining index over the first half of the year is an indication that the industry has regained its former luster.

"The mining industry has indeed recuperated and is very much back on its feet. Mining companies – whether local or foreign – should therefore break down any inhibitions, seize the day and take advantage of this development in our country," Lim said.

He noted that the industry has always been a luminary of the Philippine stock market as history shows that the market considerably benefited from the mining boom of the 1960s.

"From a market share of a mere 19 percent in 1961, the mining sector dominated 78 percent of the stock market’s trading value after seven years. However, brought about by a series of socio-political woes, economic frailties and global downtrend, the index suffered a slump 30 years after. In 1993, it contributed only five percent of the stock market’s total value and dropped further to a measly 0.2 percent," Lim explained.

"But mining’s darker days are now a thing of the past," Lim said as he noted the mining sector’s unparalleled performance in terms of trading volume for the first half of the year.