THE PHILIPPINE STOCK Exchange (PSE) said it will update the companies in the MidCap, financials, industrial, property, services, and mining and oil indices on Aug. 12, but the PSE Index (PSEi) will remain the same.
For the 20-member PSE MidCap Index, DoubleDragon Corp. and DigiPlus Interactive Corp. will be added, while Cebu Air, Inc. (CEB) and Shell Pilipinas Corp. will be removed, the PSE said in a document on Monday.
The PSE MidCap Index aims at evaluating the performance of midsized companies in the Philippine market.
According to the PSE, a listed company qualifies for inclusion in the sector indices if it is among the top companies in terms of liquidity and has a free float level of at least 20% of its outstanding shares.
At the same time, the market operator said it also considered other relevant financial criteria as well as eligibility for early inclusion during the index review.
Under the industrial index, Alternergy Holdings Corp., Roxas and Co., Inc., and RFM Corp. will be new inclusions, while Raslag Corp. will be removed.
The property index will include Villar-led VistaREIT, Inc., while D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc. and Ever-Gotesco Resources and Holdings, Inc. will be removed.
For the services index, DigiPlus, Pacific Online Systems Corp., and STI Education Systems Holdings, Inc. will be added, while Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. and Premiere Horizon Alliance Corp. will be removed.
Asia United Bank Corp. will be added to the financials index, while Benguet Corp. “A” and “B” shares will be included in the mining and oil index.
The modifications to the local bourse were finalized after a regular review of the indices covering the July 2023 to June 2024 trading period, the PSE said.
“The index review ensures that market barometers feature the most qualified stocks based on the set criteria,” PSE President and Chief Executive Officer Ramon S. Monzon said.
No changes were made to the benchmark PSEi, PSE Dividend Yield Index (DivY), or holding firms index.
The PSEi consists of the 30 largest and most active common stocks listed on the local exchange, while the PSE DivY Index includes 20 companies that regularly provide high-yielding dividends.
“The current PSEi members remain to be among the top stocks in terms of market capitalization, liquidity, and free float level,” the PSE said in an e-mailed statement.
“The review of the composition of the indices was based on the policy on index management,” the PSE said.
Sought for comment, AP Securities, Inc. Research Head Alfred Benjamin R. Garcia said in a Viber message that the addition or removal from the sectoral indices “has almost no effect.”
“To a certain extent, some funds might track the DivY and Midcap indices, but the flows related to these additions/deletions would be negligible,” he said.
“There would only be an effect if a company is added to the PSEi, since it is the benchmark that is tracked by a lot of fund managers,” he added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
