Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) is withdrawing its plans to create a new class of shares, adding that such agenda should be discussed “under normal times.”
“The Board believes that it is not the appropriate time to present the matter to the Shareholders, and has decided to remove it from the Agenda for the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting,” the listed bank said in a disclosure on Wednesday.
Stockholders’ meeting is set on May 28. “Such an important matter as amending the Articles of Incorporation should be done under normal times when proper discussion can be done regarding the merits,” it added.
The listed bank earlier said it was proposing to convert P1.2 billion of its current P20-billion nonvoting preferred shares into 6 billion preferred shares with voting rights for 20 centavos apiece. The remaining P18.8 billion—representing 940 million shares with P20 par value apiece—will still be non-voting preferred shares.
There would be no change in its total authorized capital of P140 billion even after the proposed transaction.
Metrobank said this will give the bank “flexibility for foreign ownership and proactively manage its capital position.” In the first quarter, Metrobank saw its net profits decline by 9 percent to P6.12 billion, from P6.75 billion due to higher loan loss reserves. The provisions for credit loss more than doubled to P5 billion in the first three months of the year.
As of end-March, the bank’s non-performing loans (NPL) ratio was stable at 1.4 percent while NPL coverage stood at 114 percent.
It currently has a total equity of P305 billion, with capital adequacy ratio at 17.6 percent—well above the 10-percent minimum regulatory requirement.
Metrobank shares rose 60 centavos, or 1.81 percent, to close at P33.80 apiece amid the 0.49-percent hike for the benchmark index.