IPO watch.  Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) plans to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares, which will be taken from the 12 billion increase in its capital stock to 17 billion. It now has an authorized capital of P5 billion, consisting of P1 billion worth of preferred shares and P4 billion common shares based on P1 par value. Of APC’s 4 billion commons shares, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, the mother company, subscribed to 2 billion shares and paid P1,812,780,617, leaving it with 187,219,383 unpaid subscription. Prior to the IPO, AEV will subscribe to 3 billion shares of the 12 billion additional common shares which it will partially pay with its equities in various power-generating units with combined value of P2,891,451,629.29. The additional infusion will bring AEV’s investments in APC to P4,704,232,246.29 of 5 billion subscribed shares.

Financials: APC had total assets of P1,890,383,961 as of December 31, 2005 consisting of P901,089,103 current assets and P989,383,961 noncurrent assets. Having no noncurrent liabilities, it listed its P3,423,435 as current. The company registered net income of P83.525 million in 2005, down from P338.054 million in 2004. The drastic decline is attributed to the transfer of APC’s power distribution businesses to sister companies. It had retained earnings of P74,269,012 left after distributing P70 million and P306,335,508 dividends in 2005 and 2004.

Foreign partners. The government-owned Philippine National Oil Co. has foreigners—not Filipinos—for its biggest equity partners in its unit Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC). In a filing, PNOC-EDC told the Philippine Stock Exchange that PNOC still retains 8,999,999,991, or 60 percent, of 14,999,999,991 outstanding shares. But foreigners own 4,669,478,000 shares, or 31.13 percent, which are in the name of PCD Nominee Corp. This leaves the Filipino public investors with 1,330,522,000 shares, or 8.87 percent, of which 1,276,688,500 shares are lodged with PCD Nominee.

Who owns what. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. had the biggest number of EDC shares as custodian bank with 2,130,232,784 followed by Citibank NA with 1,062,116, 291; and Deutsche Bank with 329,085,741 shares. Land Bank had 31.98 million shares, while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. holds for its units 25.757 million shares.

Biggest foreign stockholder. PNOC-EDC’s biggest foreign stockholder is the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., which owns 917,482,533 million EDC shares, or 6.2804 percent of outstanding. As custodian bank, HSBC holds for GIC 886.522 million shares while Northern Trust Co. holds 30,960,533 shares.             

GIC has accumulated EDC shares by buying 806,810,533 shares at P3.20 IPO price on December 4, 2006. It purchased additional 105.272 million shares at P4.333564 on December 13, 2006. UOB Management, one of GIC’s investment managers, bought 5.4 million shares at P4.48 each.       

GIC bought on December 4, 2006 under IPO 806,810,533 at P3.20; bought on December 13, 2006, additional 105.272 million shares at P4.333564; UOB Asset Management bought for GIC 5.4 million shares at P4.48.

LISTED Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) reported a 39.5-percent jump in net profit for the fiscal year ending September 2006 to P1.718 billion versus P1.231 billion in 2005, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Gross revenues also improved by 29.7 percent to P6.643 billion from the previous year’s P5.119 billion.

PHILIPPINE stocks rose for the fifth successive trading day Wednesday and continued to lift the index at its highest in almost a decade. Speculations by market players remain strong that record-low bond yields will boost demand for shares.

INDIA, the world’s largest service provider for businesses in the West is turning to the second-largest location of call centers—the Philippines, an executive of a firm that installed the contact centers said late Tuesday.

CREDIT card issuer Equitable Card Network Inc, a unit of Equitable PCI Bank (EPCIB), will soon be folded into Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO), EPCIB said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday.