PTT Remains Non-Compliant with Disclosure Rules

The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) belies the statement made by Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (PTT) that it has “fulfilled the requirements set by the PSE” and takes exception to its assertion that PTT “should be allowed to resume trading”. These pronouncements were attributed to Miguel Bitanga, Chief Operating Officer of PTT and were published in newspaper reports on August 31, 2018. The lifting of trading suspension was echoed by PTT President and CEO James Velasquez in the company’s statement.

“PTT has not submitted compliant structured reports (i.e., quarterly and audited annual reports) since 2004. Accordingly, the company will remain under involuntary trading suspension until it completes its submissions. The company’s declaration in its press release totally surprised us considering we had previously met and informed Mr. Velasquez about these several violations,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon.

Aside from the non-submission of structured reports, the PSE cited the company for repeated violations of disclosure requirements covering material information. Some of the material information that were not disclosed on time are the issuance of shares to three companies, penalties imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the legal proceedings involving corporate rehabilitation.

“It seems that the Exchange’s disclosure rules were blatantly disregarded by PTT. Our team is now evaluating if these multiple disclosure violations warrant the delisting of PTT from the roster of listed firms of PSE,” Monzon added.

“The Exchange has always impressed upon listed companies its rules on fair, accurate, complete, and timely disclosure of material information. This rule applies to all listed firms, even those under trading halts or suspensions,” explained Mr. Monzon.

The PSE has sent a formal letter to PTT to inform them of their disclosure violations. The PSE slapped monetary penalties for these violations.

A disclosure notice on the case of PTT is posted on the PSE EDGE website.