Minority stockholder wants PNCC to stop paying dividends to gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - A minority shareholder of publicly-listed Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC) is seeking to stop the construction firm from remitting to the government dividends derived from its shares in the operations of North and South Luzon expressways.

PNCC chief information officer Janice Day Alejandrino informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) that Forum Holdings Corp. filed a complaint seeking to stop the PNCC from remitting shares, income, and dividends to the government.

“The complaint primarily seeks to enjoin PNCC and defendant corporations from remitting to the national government the shares and income, and dividends derived from said shares in the defendant corporations,” Alejandrino said.

Forum Holdings asked the lower court to render an accounting of PNCC’s interests in the various corporations that operate the North and South Luzon expressways as well as the South Metro Manila Skyway system.

The minority shareholder also asked the court to be allowed to exercise its right of inspection as shareholder of PNCC.

The company also wants PNCC to pay damages as well as attorney’s fees. PNCC reported yesterday that it booked a net income amounting to P23.319 million last year reversing the P236.68 million net loss in 2011.

Revenues of PNCC plunged 27.6 percent to P116.17 million from P160.43 million due to the decline in construction activities.

Forum Holdings is a minority shareholder of PNCC and is reportedly controlled by businessman William Gatchalian.

Sources said the Gatchalian Group wants to preserve the assets of PNCC after the Court of Appeals reversed its decision in January last year awarding to Strategic Alliance Development Corp.(Stradec) state-owned shares of PNCC stocks worth at least P7 billion.

In a nine-page amended decision penned by Associate Justice Vicente Veloso, the former special 14th division of the appellate court reversed its ruling in January last year, which granted Stradec’s damage claims by transferring government’s stake in PNCC to the private firm via award of sale from the Privatization and Management Office (PMO).

The CA granted the motion for reconsideration filed by PNCC on its earlier ruling that affirmed the July 1, 2010 decision of the Makati regional trial court, which declared Stradec as winning bidder in the failed privatization of the state-run firm in 2000.