Indonesia and the Philippines are among the best-performing economies and markets in Asia this year. For investors who continue to be sanguine about the prospects of both and those seeking portfolio diversification, First Pacific appears to offer a less expensive and convenient (since the stock is listed in Hong Kong and denominated in Hong Kong dollars) way to gain exposure to these markets.
First Pacific is a holding company with four major investments: a 25.6 per cent economic interest in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), 59.1 per cent in Metro Pacific Investment Corporation (MPIC), 31 per cent in Philex Mining Corporation (Philex) and 50.1 per cent in PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk (Indofood).
PLDT, MPIC and Philex are listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange while Indofood is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
PLDT is the largest and most diversified telecoms company in the Philippines, with more than 68.5 million cellular, 2.1 million fixed line and 3.2 million broadband subscribers. It also offers business outsourcing services.
MPIC invests in infrastructure projects in the Philippines, including electricity generation and distribution, water treatment, toll roads and hospitals, while Philex explores for and extracts minerals and oil.
Based in Indonesia, Indofood – the world’s largest producer of instant noodles – also makes flour, pasta, dairy products, food seasonings and snack food. Its agribusiness division owns more than 250,000 hectares of palm oil, rubber and sugar cane plantations, and manufactures cooking oil and margarine.
First Pacific’s stakes in its listed investments based on market values are worth HK$62.5 billion in total. After deducting the holding company’s net debt of more than HK$9 billion at the end of 2011, First Pacific is valued at HK$53.4 billion, or HK$13.93 per share.
