By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

CONVERGE ICT Solutions, Inc. on Monday said its shareholder, Coherent Cloud Investments, B.V., sold 420 million shares for P30 each, a move seen to bring the listed company closer to the MSCI Index.

The transaction, which reduced Coherent Cloud’s interest in Converge to 10.25% from 15.83%, increased the Dennis Anthony H. Uy-led company’s public float, or shares that can be publicly traded and are unrestricted, from 20.4% to 26%.

Coherent Cloud is owned by US private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

This puts Converge “in a stronger position to be included in the MSCI Index at the upcoming index reviews,” Converge Co-Founder and President Maria Grace Y. Uy said at a virtual briefing.

Philstocks Financial, Inc. Senior Research Analyst Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco said the MSCI index is a gauge “very much followed” by the global investment community.

“So, a stock’s inclusion in the said index may boost sentiment towards it,” he said in a phone message.

Inclusion in the MSCI “will allow for increased exposure to global funds and, consequently, higher value turnover for the stock,” Regina Capital Development Corp. Equity Analyst Anna Corenne M. Agravio said by phone.

Converge Chief Financial Office Advisor Matthias Vukovich said the increased free float will allow the company to fulfill the different criteria for MSCI Index inclusion, “which includes the value of the free float and the percentage of the free float.”

The 420 million shares account for about 5.6% of the outstanding common shares.

“Now, with our investible market cap increased by 5.6%, we believe that it will significantly improve our trading liquidity, allowing for greater investor participation and trading of our stocks,” Mr. Vukovich said.

For her part, Ms. Uy said: “There was strong reception from high quality investors (global and domestic) that enabled us to increase the base size of the transaction and accommodate the robust investor interest.”

Converge’s attributable net income for the first nine months of the year went up by 137% to P5.20 billion from P2.19 billion in the same period in 2020.

January-to-September revenues increased by 76% to P18.83 billion from P10.68 billion last year.

Converge ICT shares closed 1.44% lower at P30.80 apiece on Monday.

GLOBE Telecom, Inc. on Monday said it had spent $7.25 million for the enhancement of its anti-spam capabilities since the pandemic started.

The amount forms part of Globe’s capital expenditures for the rollout of its cybersecurity and data privacy infrastructure.

“We take unsolicited and fraudulent messages seriously, and protecting Globe customers from these scams remains a top business priority,” Globe Chief Information Security Officer Anton Reynaldo M. Bonifacio said in an e-mailed statement.

Several mobile-phone users have been receiving spam text messages about employment opportunities.

The National Privacy Commission said last week that it would look into the reports.

This year, the company deactivated 5,670 confirmed spam numbers and blocked nearly 71 million spam messages, Globe said.

Globe added that it had partnered with some commercial banks, as well as Lazada and Shopee, “to minimize not just spam but also scams and phishing activities.”

“Given the ongoing pandemic, many businesses are struggling to get their products across to consumers. This has contributed to a surge in unsolicited marketing campaigns from digital marketers or spammers, who use existing number databases culled from public information or online data,” Mr. Bonifacio said. — Arjay L. Balinbin

LBC Express Holdings, Inc. on Monday reported that it swung to a loss in the third quarter of the year, mainly due to higher expenses.

The listed company said its attributable net loss for the quarter was P64.22 million, compared with a profit of P448.50 million in the same period a year earlier.

“This is mainly driven by higher cost of sales, interest expense and loss on derivatives for 2021,” the company said in its quarterly report.

Many companies like LBC Express have incurred pandemic-related expenses such as medical and sanitation supplies, shuttling costs, and rapid testing costs.

The company’s service revenues for the third quarter declined 2.3% to P3.90 billion from P3.99 billion in the same period last year.

Cost of services for the period rose 20.4% to P3.13 billion from P2.60 billion previously, bringing its gross profit to P772.04 million, down from P1.39 billion in the same period a year earlier.

For the nine-month period, the company reported an attributable net income of P246.34 million, a turnaround from a P53.23-million loss in 2020.

Total revenues for the period increased 27.9% to P12.32 billion from P9.63 billion in the same period last year.

Nine-month cost of services climbed 27.8% to P9.43 billion from P7.38 billion previously.

“Cost of delivery and remittance is higher relative to increase in volume. This also resulted to increase in materials and supplies which is presented under ‘utilities and supplies,’” the company said.

“In relation to the implemented processes to ensure safety, security measures and social distancing, the company added domestic warehouses in mid-2020 which contributed to increase in manpower cost, utilities and office supplies, and depreciation and amortization for fixed and right-of-use assets,” it added.

LBC Express shares closed unchanged at P21 apiece on Monday. — Arjay L. Balinbin