THE Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) is optimistic that the local bourse will bounce back next year after 2022 daw the main index drop by 7.8 percent.
“We are optimistic that the stock market can bounce back next year as the global economy continues to open up and corporate earnings return to pre-pandemic growth levels,” PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon said in a statement. “While risks from geopolitical tensions, higher inflation and increasing interest rates remain, the Philippines has shown its resiliency through better-than-expected GDP growth during the previous quarter, which we hope will carry over for the fourth quarter and in 2023.”
During the last trading day of the year on Thursday, Dec. 29, the PSE index closed at 6,566.39 points, down by 0.15 points or 0.002 percent. Year to date, the main index dropped by 7.8 percent.
PSE saw initial public offerings (IPO) this year to have raised P110.29 billion in total capital from primary and secondary shares, 53 percent lower than the P234.48 billion raised in the previous year.
Despite the lower capital raised figure, the PSE had nine IPOs in 2022, the most number of IPOs in a single year since 2007, fifteen years ago. Other capital raising activities conducted this year included one listing by way of introduction, five stock rights offerings, and 12 private placements in 2022.
“We still consider 2022 a banner year in terms of the number of IPOs, and we look forward to continuing the listing momentum in 2023. We see the equities market becoming a more attractive option for capital raising given the rise in interest rates and as valuations gradually recover,” said PSE president and chief executive officer Ramon Monzon.
The PSE saw the listing of three new Reits (real estate investment trust) this year, with two being energy-themed Reits.
“The local Reit market is still teeming with potential opportunities and we expect our Reit roster to expand and potentially diversify to include other themes beyond what we have listed so far,” Monzon said.
The local bourse’s market capitalization in 2023 registered an 8.4 percent decrease at P16.56 trillion from P18.08 trillion from the previous year.
Daily average value turnover for the year was at P7.30 billion, down by 18.9 percent from 2021’s P9.00 billion average.
The market registered P67.95 billion worth of net foreign selling versus the P2.75 billion net foreign selling in 2021.