PDEx sees more debt listings before year-end
by Erik de la Cruz, BusinessMirror | 11/08/2009 10:25 PM
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Okays SMC unit bond trading
MANILA – Three or four more corporate debt issues may be listed on the country’s electronic platform for trading of fixed-income securities before the year is over. This, after San Miguel Brewery Inc.’s (SMBI) P38.8-billion bonds begin trading on November 17.
The board of Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), operator of the secondary-market trading infrastructure, has approved the bond listing of SMBI, the seventh company to join the exchange’s growing community of debt issuers. PDEx, the trading and regulatory arm of the PDS Group of Companies, is in talks with seven other companies for the listing of their debt issues, said chairman and chief executive officer Vicente Castillo.
“They are all familiar names and three or four of them may list debt issues before the year ends,” he said in a phone interview on Friday. He declined to identify these companies.
With the listing of SMBI’s bonds, total corporate IOUs hosted by PDEx will increase to P87.3 billion. Its platform allows retail and institutional investors to buy and sell corporate debts in the secondary market.
Castillo said the growing list of corporate debt papers tradable on PDEx platform indicates that “the market is starting to appreciate the investment opportunity in corporate bonds and notes, as he added that “it’s a good sign. I think there’s also more awareness now of the availability of financing in the domestic market for companies.”
PDEx was established five years ago to provide an electronic platform for trading, clearing and settlement and depository and custodianship of fixed-income securities and their derivatives.
It began its operations with the trading of government securities and last year launched the platform for trading of corporate debt. Its infrastructure, PDEx officials said, helps in the price discovery and ensures transparency in trading and investor protection.
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