More listed firms now Shariah-compliant

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said the number of listed companies considered compliant with Islamic principles has increased.

As of end-September, 53 out of the 265 listed firms adhere to the Shariah standard, up from the 51 out of 260 firms as of end-June.

Five firms made its way into the latest Shariah-compliant list while three were kicked out.

The new companies that entered the list were Dizon Copper Silver Mines Inc., Keppel Philippines Properties Inc., Liberty Telecoms Holdings Inc., The Philodrill Corp and Roxas and Co. Inc., while EEI Corp., Far Eastern University Inc. and Globalport 900 Inc. were the companies that were removed.

Companies retained from the Shariah-compliant list are ATN Holdings, Inc. A and B shares, Abra Mining & Industrial Corp., Bogo-Medellin Milling Co. Inc., Concepcion Industrial Corp., Da Vinci Capital Holdings Inc.,, Forum Pacific Inc., IRC Properties Inc., Island Information & Technology Inc., Now Corp., SPC Power Corp., Swift Foods Inc., United Paragon Mining Corp. and Wellex Industries Inc.

Other companies that made the list are Apex Mining Inc., Araneta Properties Inc., Asian Terminals Inc., Calapan Ventures Inc., Centro Escolar University, Chemrez Technologies Inc., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Inc., D&L Industries Inc., DMCI Holdings Inc., Holcim Philippines Inc., iPeople Inc., Jollibee Foods Corp., Lafarge Republic Inc., Liberty Flour Mills Inc., Mabuhay Vinyl Corp., Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp., Manila Electric Co., Marcventures Holdings Inc., Nickel Asia Corp., Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc., Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., Philex Mining Corp., Philex Petroleum Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Semirara Mining Corp., Starmalls Inc., STI Education Systems Holdings Inc., Universal Robina Corp. and Vulcan Industrial & Mining Corp.

The Shariah covers the rules, regulations, teachings and values that govern the lives of Muslims.

For a company to make it to the list, its primary business should not be in conventional interest-based lending, financial institutions, insurance, mortgage and lease derivatives, pork, alcohol, intoxicants, tobacco, arms and weapons, embryonic stell-cem research, hotel, gambling, casinos, music, cinema and adult entertainment.

The PSE said total revenues derived by the company from the list of prohibited business, if any, should not exceed five percent.

Interest bearing debt and total amount of interest-bearing deposits/investments should also not exceed 30 percent against the 12-month trailing average market capitalization of the company.

PSE said it tapped the services of IdealRatings Inc. to screen the listed companies in accordance with the standards for Shariah compliance as stipulated by the Accounting Auditing Organizations for Islamic Finance Institutions.

In December last year, the PSE released its initial list of Shariah-compliant companies in line with its goal of attracting a portion of the $1.5-trillion global Islamic funds to the local bourse.