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A MOVIE
production company was the biggest surprise of the week
ending November 23 when it continued rising and closed
at P1.04.
The
performance of Premiere Entertainment Productions Inc.
may puzzle the public investors because the company
reported a net loss of P2,009,508 in the first nine
months of 2007 and a deficit of P395,304,695.
Premiere
Entertainment, also known as PEP, comes a long way from
how it was a year ago—a listed company on the slump.
Historical prices show it closed at P0.35 on Dec. 21,
2006, up three centavos from, P0.32 on Dec. 27, 2005.
Then PEP
made a big leap. From a low of P0.58 on Oct. 24, 2007,
it doubled to P1.16 on November 14. It breached P1 for
the first time in a month on November14 when it opened
at P1.06, peaked at P1.16, dropped to its session’s low
of P1.02 and closed at P1.06.
Unusual
rise
As early
as Nov. 6, 2007, the Philippine Stock Exchange, which is
getting strict with so-called “unusual rise” in a
stock’s price and volume, asked PEP officials to explain
the company’s performance. The exchange got a pro-forma
reply.
In a
letter dated
Nov. 6, 2007, Anastacio P. Diaz Jr., president and chief executive
officer, told lawyer Pete M. Malabanan, nobody knew why
PEP has become suddenly active.
“Please
be advised that we are not aware of any material
information that could have caused the unusual volume
and price movements in the trading of the share of
stocks of Premiere Entertainment Productions Inc. for
the past five (5) trading days,” Diaz wrote Malabanan,
head of PSE’s disclosure department.
Annual
meeting cancelled
Diaz,
however, hinted on the missing material information in
another filing, which was dated Nov. 13, 2007, in
connection with the cancellation of PEP’s annual
stockholders’ meeting scheduled on Dec. 7, 2007.
The
meeting, Diaz wrote Malabanan, “has been postponed due
to the finalization of additional matters that will be
taken up with the shareholders.”
Diaz did
not elaborate on “additional matters” and kept the
public in suspense when he wrote Malabanan that “we will
immediately notify the Exchange as soon as the new
meeting date and related details are finalized.”
While
Diaz did not elaborate the “related details,” the public
could only assume that he, as president of the company,
should know that something has been happening inside the
boardroom.
The PSE
website showed the only significant disclosure made by
PEP was the ownership of Victor Yuchengco Lim of 133,000
PEP shares as the company’s independent director as of
Oct. 19, 2007.
Lim’s
ownership of PEP shares was filed with the exchange on
Nov. 6, 2007.
TKC
Steel Corp. resumed trading on Friday. The resumption
coincided with the market debut of the company’s 235
million additional shares.
Opening
at P10, TKC Steel hit a high of P10.25, dropped to a low
of P9.50 and closed at its opening price. This
performance landed the stock among the market’s losers
as it closed at P14.75 on Nov. 7, 2007, TKC’s last
trading before it was suspended in the duration of its
additional shares’ offering.
San
Miguel Corp., among the market’s old reliable blue
chips, has been missing in the list of top gainers. Last
week, it was among the top losers when it closed at P44
after opening at P45. It hit a session’s high of P45.50
and a low of P43.
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