Philex unit to trade stocks on PSE

MANILA, Philippines - Philex Petroleum Corp. (PPC), a wholly-owned unit of copper-gold producer Philex Mining Corp., will have its shares traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange beginning on Sept. 12, according to a top official.

The company will list its shares by way of introduction, a scheme that does not involve an initial public offering. However, companies that resort to this method are mandated to hold an IPO within a year from listing based on PSE rules.

PPC, which holds the energy and petroleum assets of Philex, recently obtained the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval to register 1.7 billion common shares with a par value of P1 apiece.

Philex chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said PPC shares will start trading at P1.30 per share.

Out of the total number of shares that were registered, 598.63 million would be distributed as property dividends, accounting for approximately 36 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of PPC.

The dividend ratio will be one PPC share for every eight Philex shares, and P0.052 for each Philex share.

Following the dividend distribution, Philex’s ownership in PPC will decline from 99.99 percent to 64.79 percent.

PPC controls Forum Energy Plc, a company based in the United Kingdom that has a 70 percent interest in Service Contract (SC) No. 72 covering the Sampaguita natural gas discovery. It also has interests in various petroleum service contracts.

The company also owns 18.46 percent of Pitkin Petroleum PLC; 10.31 percent of PetroEnergy Resources Corp.; 100 percent of Brixton Energy & Mining Corp., a coal mining firm operating in northern Mindanao; and has overriding royalty interest in SC 6 (Cadlao).

The compny recently acquired 70 percent of the Octon petroleum block in offshore Palawan from a consortium of local firms.