Quick takes from around the market

1. Concepcion Industrial [CIC 14.02, down 8.8%; 1% avgVol] [link] named Ariel Fermin as its new CEO, effective January 2024. Mr. Fermin “resigned” as CEO of Max’s Group [MAXS 4.08, down 2.9%; 61% avgVol] a little over three months ago. Prior to his time with MAXS, Mr. Fermin served as President of Greenwich and Chowking.

 

MB quick take: If we needed more evidence to show that Mr. Fermin was pushed out of MAXS prematurely, here it is. Remember how the disclosure said that he was leaving MAXS due to “retirement”? Looks like he discovered a second wind. Mr. Fermin oversaw MAXS’s successful post-COVID rebound and appeared to have done a very competent job of navigating the firm through a very difficult time.
 

2. AREIT [AREIT 32.40, up 0.6%; 42% avgVol] [link] received SEC approval for the property-for-shares swap that will transfer P22.5 billion worth of “prime flagship offices and malls” to AREIT in exchange for newly-issued AREIT stock. The transfer was executed at a per-share price of P37.00. Revenue from the acquisitions is expected to appear in AREIT’s Q3 financial statements.

 

MB quick take: This transaction was approved by the AREIT board back in March, so it’s taken the SEC over six months to approve. Considering how common this type of swap is for REITs, and how important the REIT sector appears to be to the PSE’s development plan for the capital markets both now and into the future, it seems like something needs to be done to reduce the administrative lag at the SEC level. If the government is really interested in opening up the REIT market, make it easier and cheaper for REIT sponsors to reap the benefit of their REIT efforts. It helps shareholders too, as it gives us the benefit of the bargain (higher dividends) sooner.
 

3. Monde Nissin [MONDE 9.15, down 0.2%; 39% avgVol] [link] appointed Annabelle Chua to its board as an independent director, and assigned Ms. Chua to chair its Audit Committee and serve as a member of its Risk and Related Party Transactions Committee and Corporate Governance, Nominations, and Remunerations Committee. Ms. Chua was previously with PLDT [TEL 1165.00, up 0.9%; 110% avgVol], where she served as TEL’s Chief Financial Officer and board member before resigning from her post and her board position after taking leave with pay in the wake of the $0.9 billion TEL capex scandal that rocked the company in Q1/23.

 

MB Quick Take: We still don’t have a great idea of what happened in that TEL fiasco, but even if we assume that there wasn’t any fraud, it’s still not a great look for people like Ms. Chua or Manny Pangilinan for such a terrible oversight to have happened right under their noses. The rumor mill said that there was a great deal of bad blood coming from Ms. Chua’s camp when she was placed on leave prior to her departure from TEL, but neither the scandal nor the sour ending of that working relationship with TEL appears to have made Ms. Chua radioactive in MONDE’s eyes. She joins with MONDE trading down over 30% from its IPO price, but on a recent heater that has seen the stock gain 40% in six weeks.
 

4. Metro Pacific [MPI 5.18, up 1.2%; 10% avgVol] [link] will be suspended by the PSE at the close of the market today, when the transfer of shares to MPI through the tender offer will be performed using a block sale. That transaction will push MPI’s public float below the PSE’s minimum threshold for public ownership, which will be the grounds for the suspension.

 

MB quick take: Today is the last day of open trading of MPI shares, not that it means a lot anyway since as of right now there are only a few percentage points of MPI’s outstanding shares that are even theoretically available to trade (which are not tied up and pledged as part of the tender offer or already in the MPI Consortium’s hands).
 

5. DFNN [DFNN 3.08, down 0.7%; 0% avgVol] [link] announced that it added Nicholas Te to its board of directors. Mr. Te is a graduate of the University of California with a degree in Materials Science and Engineering, which he used to gain three years of employment in “roles spanning Tesla and the SF Bay Area.” Mr. Te said his “career is characterized by a dedication to innovation, strategic thinking, and fostering collaboration among diverse teams.”

 

MB quick take: Some 90s kids will be able to recall, with a bittersweet sense of cringe, what it felt like to be a graduate with three years of corporate experience. How it felt not only possible, but proper, to refer to a three-year span of employment between multiple companies as a “career”. Truth is, this kind of bravado can be an energizing force for a board, so more power to Mr. Te and DFNN: you go win that space race for us. Don’t let my jaded age rain on your day. This PR piece just hit me in the feels. I think I suffered internal bleeding from the cringe I felt remembering how I talked about my professional experience at the same stage of life.

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Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.