Philippine Stock Exchange Inc (PSE PM) - Overlooked and On the Up

731 Views28 Apr 2021 21:22

SUMMARY

Despite pressures on the Philippines from strict lockdowns and continuing issues with rising cases of COVID-19, Philippine Stock Exchange Inc (PSE PM) looks increasingly attractive with a powerful combination of rising volumes and a significant pipeline of IPOs in 2021.

The exchange has also been a direct beneficiary of COVID-19 as it has encouraged the influx of greater numbers of retail investors, which has boosted market volumes significantly.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc (PSE PM) currently only has 272 listed companies, which looks quite a low number but is in the process of encouraging more smaller companies to list.

The rapid increase in IPOs should be positive for margins given the high listing fees that the listing of new shares attracts. We have just seen the approval pass for the US$1bn Monde Nissin Corp (0191881D PM) IPO, which will focus attention on the overall market.

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE PM) has outlined a number of new initiatives to increase liquidity and the number of new listings.

The company is also looking to increasingly digitize its business by upgrading its clearing and settlement system and shortening settlement to T+2.

Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE PM) is trading at a discount to regional exchanges on 17.1x FY21E PER, which trades on an average forward PER of 29x. There are also a number of potential catalysts ahead, the most obvious being higher volumes, driven by increasing retail participation plus more IPOs in FY2021.

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