UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC), in which JG Summit Inc., the listed holding company of businessman John Gokongwei Jr. and his family, owns 1.314 billion shares, or 60.24 percent, had P16.254-billion retained earnings as of September 30, 2006. With this surplus, it paid its stockholders P1.511 billion in cash dividend. By end-September 2007, it still had accumulated retained earnings of P20.30 billion including its net income of P5.557 billion for calendar year 2006-2007.

SM Investments Corp.  (SMIC) paid P5.41 per share dividend on June 21, 2007 to its stockholders as of May 25, 2007. The amount, which was equivalent to P3.170 billion, was taken from SMIC’s unrestricted retained earnings of P46.207 billion as of December 31, 2006. The company also declared 4.27-percent stock dividend, which required the distribution of 25.023 million common shares to stockholders as of June 28, 2007.

The two listed companies are two examples of listed companies that pay the cash and stock dividends declared by their respective board out of their retained earnings  based on audited financial reports of previous year. URC, like SMIC, is very specific on this when it told regulators in a filing that it “intends to maintain an annual cash dividend payment ratio of 50 percent of the group’s consolidated income from the preceding fiscal year.” (“Group” here refers to URC and its units).

Not every peso, though, in the retained earnings is available for distribution to stockholders. SMIC clarified this in its audited financial statements. “As of December 31, 2007, there are no restrictions that would limit the ability of the company to pay dividends to the common stockholders,” a footnote to the entry “retained earnings” in SMIC’s audited financial statement shows, “except with respect to P44.2 billion, representing the accumulated equity in net earnings of subsidiaries.” The excluded amount, according to SMIC is “not available for dividend distribution until such time that the parent company receives the dividends from these subsidiaries.”

Ownership update. URC may be among foreign funds’ favorite stocks. But the PSE monitor shows PCD Nominee Corp. held less URC shares—696.414 million, or 31.92 percent, as of January 31, 2008—compared with 831 million shares, or 37.40 percent, it held as of March 31, 2007. Does this mean foreign investors had unloaded 134.586 million shares in between the two cutoff dates? Of the foreign-owned URC shares lodged with PCD Nominee as of January 31, 2008, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. held 363.052 million shares, or 16.64 percent; Standard Chartered Bank, 207.613 million shares, or 9.52 percent; and ATR Securities Inc., 138.052 million shares, or 6.33 percent. Last year, HSBC held 458.856 million shares, or 20.65 percent; and Standard Chartered Bank,201.101 million shares, or 9.05 percent.

Payroll reports. Here is something for the workers of the two companies. If URC and SMIC are able to distribute dividends to their stockholders, will they be also able to afford additional salaries and benefits for their workers next month?

Universal Robina is one of the stock market’s profitable companies. Its net profits surged 88.973 percent to P5.501 billion in 2007 from P2.911 billion in 2006. In 2005, it reported net profit of P2.401 billion. These profits resulted from revenues of P37.72 billion in 2007; P35.183 billion in 2006; and P31.199 billion in 2005. Its personnel expenses amounted to P2.204 billion—salaries and wages,P1.532 billion; other employee benefits, P527.716 million; pension expense, P143.812 million—in 2007; P1.810 billion in 2006—salaries and wages, P1.366 billion; other employee benefits, P500.44 million; and P1.716 billion in 2005—salaries and wages, P1.258 billion; other benefits, P403.502 million; pension, P54.732 million.

As the flagship of the SM group, SMIC is the most profitable. It registered net profit of P16.117 billion in 2007, up 5.747 percent from P15.241 billion in 2006, and P11.321 billion in 2005. Its revenues amounted to P122.536 billion in 2007, up 38.086 percent from P88.739 billion in 2006; and P53.966 billion in 2005. It reported personnel cost of P5.187 billion in 2007; P4.060 billion in 2006; and P2.76 billion in the first nine months of 2005.

Executive compensation. SMIC paid its top 10 officers P64.058 million in 2007, up 84.88 percent to P34.632 million in 2006. This year, it estimated the group (Harley T. Sy, president; Hans T. Sy, Herbert T. Sy,  first executive vice presidents; Jose T. Sio, executive vice president and chief finance officer; Gregory L. Domingo, executive director; Josefino C. Lucas, executive vice president; Atty. Corazon I. Morando, consultant on corporate legal matters and assistant corporate secretary; Atty. Marianne M. Guerrero, Merrill F. Yu, senior vice presidents;  and Efren L. Tan, vice president) to receive P74.12 million. URC, on the other hand, paid its top five executives (John Gokongwei, director, chairman emeritus; James L. Go, director, chairman and CEO; Lance Y. Gokongwei, director, president and COO; Bienvenido Bautista and Patrick O. Ng, executive vice presidents) P29.005 million in 2007, up 9.16 percent from P26.57 million in 2006.

LISTED shopping mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPH) will launch a P1-billion share buyback program in a move to enhance shareholders’ value under prevailing market condition.

Smart buys CURE for P419M

SMART Communications Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), now owns Ongpin-led Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise (CURE), a licensed 3G (third-generation) operator.

ABOITIZ Power Corp. (APC) reported Monday it has increased its bottomline by 143 percent to P1.011 billion in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier owing to the positive performance of its power generation and distribution business.

THE Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said the composition of its indices will go through another change following the latest free float-based review of trading activity for the full year 2007. 

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has declared in an opinion that Cebu Air Inc. may use the “most favored treatment” clause in its franchise to exempt itself from the limitation on public-equity participation.

THE Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd., one of the leading players in the country’s banking sector, has relaunched its Power Vantage (PVA) product, a junior wealth management proposition for individuals who want to build their fortune.

UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. (URC), in which JG Summit Inc., the listed holding company of businessman John Gokongwei Jr. and his family, owns 1.314 billion shares, or 60.24 percent, had P16.254-billion retained earnings as of September 30, 2006.