KEPPEL Philippines Holdings Inc. was the market’s biggest gainer last week. It traded only for two days: March 4, when it opened and closed at P1.80 on a turnover of P63,000; and March 3, when it traded at P1.56 throughout the session on a turnover of P54,600.

Stocks in the computation of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rarely make it to the list of the market’s biggest gainers. Finally, last week, Union Bank of the Philippines joined the elite list at the bottom: No. 30.

Union Bank closed the week at P37, up from P36.50 on February 29. It hit P38 on February 15, its highest since January 25 after it dropped to its low of P34.50 on January 29.

Union Bank may have survived the market’s fall, but not six other PSEi stocks. These were, in alphabetical order, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., Ayala Land Inc., First Philippine Holdings Corp., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., San Miguel Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc.

ABS-CBN used to be one of the market’s most heavily traded issues but not last week, when the investors appeared reluctant to trade. ABS-CBN had only two trades during the week: on March 4, when it closed at P29.40 on volume of P11,200 shares and value turnover of P307,600 and on March 7, when it closed at P27.50 on volume of 39,500 and value turnover of P1,161,450.

Market reports posted on the PSE web site showed ABS-CBN last hit P30 on January 28, its highest until Friday, and plunged to its 30-day low of P25 on January 29.

Its closest competitor for nationwide leadership GMA Network Inc., though not a PSEi stock, did not do better despite the company’s optimism on its financial prospects for 2008.

“To be conservative about it,” lawyer Felipe L. Gozon said in a report which appeared in the BusinessMirror on February 28. “We expect to grow 20 percent or more both in net income and revenues this year.”

Gozon is chairman, president and chief executive officer of GMA Network.

GMA Network failed to sustain its opening at P7.10 on Friday, when it closed at P6.80, its session’s low the same day.

The stock has been falling despite the company’s buyback and Gozon’s acquisition of shares in the open market. GMA Network reached P7.30 on March 5, a big jump from its low of P5.90 on January 28.

GMA Network listed its shares on the PSE’s first board on July 30, 2008. It sold its shares at P8.50 through an initial public offering.

Ayala Land has not been performing well since the explosion incident in Glorietta, one of its malls, in November last year. It closed on Friday at P11, its session’s low.

Apparently, profitability did not help Ayala Land, which reported that its net income surged 20.325 percent to P5,095,548,000 in 2007 from P4,233,852,000 in 2006. In 2005 the property arm of the Zobel-controlled group of companies had net income of P3,985,431,000.

The last disclosure filed by First Philippine Holdings (FPH) with the PSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission was on February 22, when it reported the acquisition of 27,000 FPH shares at P51.50 by Augusto Almeda-Lopez. The acquisition increased the FPH shares Almeda-Lopez directly owned as of February 18 to 42,001 shares, or 0.0071 percent.

Almeda-Lopez is director and vice chairman of the 15-man board of FPH.

First Phililippine Holdings peaked at P58 on January 25 and has since failed investors. Its P42.50 close on Friday was its lowest since January 25, when it opened at P57 and closed at P56.

Metrobank, one of the market’s more active stocks, has yet to reach P47, which it recorded on January 25. It closed at P39.50, its lowest since February 1.

It seems market investors failed to appreciate the declaration of dividend by San Miguel Corp., which, instead of driving it up, its SMC A and B fell during the week.

SMC, in a filing, told regulators that its board approved on March 6 the distribution of P0.35 dividend payable on April 24 to all stockholders as of March 28.

The dividend due the holders of 1,920,658,655 will amount to 672,239,979.25, which will be taken from SMC retained earnings of P87.811 billion, of which P5.976 billion—or restricted retained earnings —has been earmarked for SMC’s expansion projects.

SM Prime Holdings Inc., which belongs to SM group, controlled by businessman Henry Sy Sr. and his family, reported net income of P6,285,807,499 in 2007, up 9.32 percent, from P5,749,905,449 in 2006. It registered net profit of P5,249,720,527 in 2005.

Despite its consistent profitability, SM Prime closed at P8.60 on Friday, its lowest since January 25. It hit a high of P10 on February 1.

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THE goal of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Group this year is to add at least 5 million mobile phone subscribers and about half a million for broadband.

Six PSEi stocks among last week’s losers

KEPPEL Philippines Holdings Inc. was the market’s biggest gainer last week. It traded only for two days: March 4, when it opened and closed at P1.80 on a turnover of P63,000; and March 3, when it traded at P1.56 throughout the session on a turnover of P54,600.

A MONTH after saying it wants to invest here, Radiant Studios, the local unit of US-based Radiant ERA Holdings Llc., kicked off its first film project costing P200 million ($5 million).

ISRAELI robotics company InRob Tech Ltd. announced it would set up shop in Makati City, where its Philippine partner, CP Communication Services Inc. (CP Comm), operates.

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Nobody knew who really started it but, at the end of the night, former finance undersecretary Milwida Guevara was P13,000 richer. The amount- of mostly P100 bills- was a response to her speech as the Haydee Yorac awardee that even P100 will go a long way to help a child get a better education.