The Philippine Stock Exchange expects companies to raise P185 billion from the stock market this year, lower than the initial forecast of P200 billion because of the volatile trading conditions.
PSE president Hans Sicat said in a speech during a forum two more companies were expected to complete initial public offerings this year, including the P29.7-billion maiden share sale by oil refiner Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.
Capital raised through the stock exchange reached P92.1 billion as of end-September, down nearly 40 percent from the same period last year. Bond listing also declined 17 percent to P76.3 billion.
Sicat said despite the decline in the number of companies going to the capital markets to raise funds, fund-raising activities remained robust.
He said several private placements were expected to happen before the end of the year.
PSE earlier said it expected fund raising activities in the stock exchange to hit P200 billion in 2016, including proceeds from IPOs, stock rights offering, private placements and preferred shares offering.
It also projected that 10 companies would conduct IPOs and backdoor listing this year. Only two companies were listed so far this year, including Golden Haven Memorial Parks Inc. of the Villar Group and cement manufacturer Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc., a unit of Mexico’s Cemex.
Aside from Pilipinas Shell, which could be one of the biggest IPOs in the country, technology firm Audiowav Media Inc. recently filed an IPO application to raise P2.66 billion in fresh capital.
PSE said it was hoping that other companies that previously deferred listing plans due to volatile market conditions such as TVI Pacific Inc., DM Wenceslao & Associates Inc and Datem Inc. would finally push though with their IPO plans this year.
The stock market is currently on a downtrend amid heavy foreign selloffs.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index tumbled 2.3 percent in September.
Foreign funds withdrew from emerging markets including the Philippines because of several factors, including possible US rate hike and the upcoming US elections.