By Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte, Reporter
SM Prime Holdings, Inc. was one of the most actively traded stocks last week, as investor sentiment was boosted by the country’s gradual economic reopening amid the upcoming holiday season.
Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed a total of 51,411,300 SM Prime shares worth P1.68 billion were traded from Nov. 22 to 26, making it the fifth most actively traded in the stock market last week.
SM Prime shares closed at P36.60 per share on Friday, up by 1.8% from a week ago.
Year to date, however, the stock’s price declined 4.94%.
“The stock may have been affected positively by the optimistic sentiment brought by the decline in new COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases in the country, which points to a more probable economic reopening in the coming weeks,” Timson Securities, Inc. Trader Darren Blaine T. Pangan said in a Viber message on Friday.
“This may benefit the company’s residential and mall businesses, and the whole economy in general,” he added.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said investors might be optimistic on the issue as the gradual reopening of the economy fell at the start of Christmas holiday season, “which accounts for a significant share of sales for many businesses and industries.”
“Senior citizens and children were finally allowed to go out of their houses after more than one and a half years, thereby also boosting foot traffic for malls and other retailers closer to pre-pandemic levels and in time for the peak season for sales during the Christmas holiday season,” Mr. Ricafort said in a separate Viber message on Friday.
The Health department on Saturday logged 899 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the country’s active cases to 17,052. The country’s total cases stood at 1.83 million.
Metro Manila will be under Alert Level 2 until end-November. Meanwhile, the Philippines has declared Nov. 29, Nov. 30, and Dec. 1 as national COVID-19 vaccination days, targeting to have at least 15 million Filipinos vaccinated.
“However, offsetting risk factors include the surge in new COVID cases in some European countries especially new record daily cases recently in Germany as well as some concerns over the new coronavirus detected in South Africa (B.1.1529) that led to some travel restrictions in some parts of the world,” Mr. Ricafort said.
The government has also implemented a travel ban until Dec. 15 against South Africa, where the new COVID-19 variant Omicron was first detected, along with other countries.
On the other hand, Swedish furniture store Ikea finally opened its doors in Manila last week, Thursday.
“The recent opening of Ikea’s biggest store in the world here in the country also bode well for mall and retail businesses in the coming months or years as the economy moves closer to greater normalcy as new COVID-19 cases eased to the lowest levels since late last year amid increased vaccination program to expedite the achievement of population protection and eventually herd immunity,” Mr. Ricafort said.
The store is located on a property leased by SM Prime’s Mall of Asia spanning 68,000 square meters (sq.m.) — making it the world’s biggest Ikea outlet. The store has a 15,000-sq.m. showroom and market hall and 16,000 sq.m. of warehouse space.
Last week, the company also launched SM City Grand Central in Caloocan, which added over 116,000 sq.m. of gross floor area to its mall portfolio.
SM Prime’s trading session last week started with the stock declining by 0.14% from its Nov. 19 close, before climbing 2.47% and 1.76%, respectively, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Investors pocketed gains from the stock as its share price went down 1.2% and 1.21% on Thursday and Friday.
According to its latest earnings report, SM Prime’s net attributable income inched up 1.05% in the July-to-September period to P3.98 billion from P3.94 billion in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, its net attributable income for the nine-month period rose 9% to P15.62 billion from P14.37 billion a year ago.
RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort placed SM Prime’s stock price resistance at the P38 to P40 range, while P35 was considered its immediate support.
Meanwhile, Timson Securities’ Mr. Pangan pegged the stock’s major support area at P32.50, with P40.40 as its nearest resistance level.
“The stock seems to have been trading between this huge range area for almost the whole year, and a break of either the support and resistance areas may be considered a significant move for this issue,” Mr. Pangan said.