Atlas Consolidated [AT 4.26 4.05%] [link] H1 net income up 4% to P2 billion on higher grade metal and higher prices for that metal. It mined less copper and gold, but mined “better” copper and gold, and then got amazing prices at market thanks to the wave of commodity inflation that has sent prices skyward. While there’s no end in the elevated prices in sight (yet), any significant decrease will show (and hard) on AT’s bottom-line.
Balai Ni Fruitas [BALAI 0.64 4.92%] [link] stab fund only bought 1.3 million shares for an average price of P0.60/share last week, which is frankly not a lot considering that the IPO price was P0.70/share and it spend the whole week trading significantly below that. The fund only has a few days left, so maybe it’s going to jump into action and pump the price in a last hurrah? Or maybe they’ll just sit on the cash and quietly transfer it to the selling shareholders at the end of the stabilization period?
President Marcos [link] mentioned the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA) as the 4th priority bill in his SONA yesterday. The PIFITA seeks to increase government tax collection by raising the passive income tax from 10% to 15%. Dividend income falls under this category. Another day, another hole in the REIT boat. Still, just because it’s a priority doesn’t mean it will happen. Remember "ending endo"? Some major employers pushed back on that. Hard. Perhaps the nation’s wealthy families will push back on this provision as well, considering that most draw considerable income from regular dividend declarations. We’ll have to wait and see.
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