Stock market rises; Online accounts grow 8.6% to 1.26m

By Jenniffer B. Austria

STOCKS rose Monday after a mixed US jobs report lifted hopes the Federal Reserve will skip an interest rate hike this month, while oil extended gains after Saudi Arabia slashed output.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, rose 9.63 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 6,521.64, as four of the six subsectors advanced.

The broader all-shares index went up 11 points, or 0.33 percent, to settle at 3,486.33 on a value turnover of P3.38 billion. Gainers outnumbered losers, 114 to 64, while 37 shares were unchanged.

Six of the 10 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Monde Nissin Corp. which climbed 4.46 percent to P8.20 and Robinsons Land Corp. which gained 2.85 percent to P14.42.

Wall Street surged Friday after data showed the US economy added 339,000 jobs last month, far more than expected, indicating the labor market remained strong despite more than a year of Fed rate increases.

However, the report also revealed wage gains moderated slightly, putting less pressure on inflation.

Analysts said the “Goldilocks” reading—neither too good nor too bad—suggested the economy was not facing an immediate risk of a recession and could still give the Fed room to hold policy steady.

Asian traders welcomed the news, with Hong Kong extending Friday’s four percent surge, while Tokyo piled on more than two percent to a fresh three-decade high and Sydney added one percent.

Shanghai was helped by a Bloomberg News report that China was looking at measures to help its beleaguered property sector, which accounts for a huge portion of its economy.

Singapore, Mumbai, Seoul, Taipei nd Jakarta also rose.

Meanwhile, the PSE said the number of online stock market accounts reached 1.26 million in 2022, an 8.6 percent increase from the previous year’s level.

It said despite the muted growth in online accounts compared to previous years, the average value per online transaction rose 33.2 percent to P46,236 from P34,701 in 2021.

It said while close to 100,000 online accounts were added last year, the number of non-online accounts decreased by more the 7,000 to 453,827. The total stock market accounts registered was at 1.712 million as of end2022, up by 5.7 percent from 2021’s 1.62 million accounts.

“The growth in accounts may have been subdued in 2022, but I expect an uptick in numbers again with the foray of new stock brokerage firms in the online trading space and the upcoming rollout of stock investing features in finance apps,” said PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon.

Monzon said the total number of stock market accounts was also affected by the clean-up of dormant accounts done by the trading participants in compliance with Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Local retail investors accounted for over 98 percent of the total stock market accounts while institutional investors and foreign investors owned 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent of the total stock market accounts, respectively. The PSE’s stock market investor profile report showed an increase in accounts owned by investors in the 30 to 44 age range, accounting for more than half of the retail accounts in 2022.

The 45 to 59 year old investors comprised 20.7 percent of accounts, followed by the 18 to 29 year olds at 18.7 percent and investors aged 60 and above at 10.8 percent. Investors with an annual income of less than P500,000 annually made up 53.5 percent of retail accounts and 72.9 percent of online retail accounts. With AFP

Please be informed that the Annual General Meeting of the Stockholders of VITARICH CORPORATION (the “Corporation”) will be held on Friday, June 30, 2023, at 2:00 P.M., at Royal Woods Resort, Ilang Ilang Extension, Sta. Rosa II, Marilao, Bulacan.

The Stockholders’ Annual General Meeting shall have the following agenda:

1. Call to Order;

2. Certification of Notice and the Existence of a Quorum;

3. Approval of the Minutes of the Previous Stockholders’ Annual General Meeting;

4. Report of the President on the Results of the 2022 Operations and the 2022 Audited Financial Statements;

5. Ratification of the Acts of Directors and Officers;

6. Election of Directors;

7. Confirmation of the Appointment of External Auditor;

8. Appointment of Stock Transfer Agent;

9. Other Matters; and entitled to notice of and vote at said meeting and any adjournment thereof.

10. Adjournment.

The Annual Stockholders’ Meeting will be held virtually through an online webinar platform for stockholders to attend by remote communication. They can join by registering online at https://www.abrown.ph/asmregister2023/ on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 20, 2023. The identities of those registering to participate online will be going through a process of verification, after which an email from the Company will be sent to them giving instructions as to how they will be able to watch the livestream of the annual stockholders’ meeting. Please see Guidelines for Participating by Remote Communication and Voting in Absentia

The stockholders are likewise encouraged to participate in the meeting by either of the following:

(i) by submitting duly accomplished proxies to the Office of the Corporate Secretary at 2704 East Tower, Philippine Stock Exchange Centre, Ortigas Center, Pasig City or via electronic copy by emailing corporatesecretary@abrown.ph on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 20, 2023.

For corporate stockholders, the proxies should be accompanied by a Secretary’s Certification on the appointment of the corporation’s authorized signatory.

(ii) by registering your votes on the matters to be taken up during the meeting through the e-voting platform set up for the purpose which can be accessed at https://www.abrown.ph/asmevoting2023/. The e-voting portal will be open until 12:00 noon of June 30, 2023.

Validation of proxies is set on June 21, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. The votes already cast using the e-voting platform by that time will also be verified on said date.

This Notice of Meeting will be published in the business section of two (2) newspapers of general circulation, in print and online format, in accordance with the SEC’s Guidelines on Alternative Mode of Distributing and Providing Copies of Notice of Meeting. The following documents which are to be circulated in connection with the shareholders’ meeting may be accessed in the links indicated below:

(i) Definitive Information Statement: https://abrown.ph/kooroast/2023/05/A-Brown-Company-Inc._SECForm-20-IS-Definitive_ASM-2023.pdf

(ii) Annual Report on SEC Form 17A: https://abrown.ph/kooroast/2023/05/05_02_2023_A-Brown-

A brief explanation of each item which requires the approval and/or ratification by the stockholders are provided in the Information Statement. Stockholders can get the electronic copies of the SEC-20-IS Definitive Information Statement, SEC 17-A Annual Report with 2022 Audited Financial Statements and other pertinent information from the PSE’s EDGE system and the Corporation’s website at https://vitarich.com/company-disclosure/sec-filings/.

Only stockholders of record as of May 30, 2023, which is the record date fixed by the Board, are entitled to notice of, and to vote at, this meeting.

Proxies must be submitted to the Special Committee of Election Inspectors of the Corporation located at Vitarich Corporation, Marilao-San Jose Road, Sta. Rosa I, Marilao, Bulacan, on or before June 19, 2023. Proxies shall be validated by the Special Committee on Election Inspectors at said office on June 23, 2023.

On the day of the meeting, you or your duly designated proxy are required to show this Notice together with your government-issued ID to facilitate registration. Registration shall start at 1:00 pm and shall close at 1:45 pm.