Investors take profit after new Greenergy fintech venture

By Jobo E. Hernandez, Researcher

FINTECH partnership spree of Antonio L. Tiu-led Greenergy Holdings, Inc. in the past few weeks fueled speculation that pushed the stock to record high, prompting market players to take profit as soon as the latest deal was disclosed.

A total of 163.01 million Greenergy shares worth P739.59 million were traded from March 1 to 5, data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed.

The stock dipped by 6.3% on a week-on-week basis to P4.31 apiece last Friday from its P4.60-per-share close on Feb. 26. Since the start of the year, the stock has jumped by 67.1%.

“Greenergy has been exceptional these past few weeks,” Mercantile Securities Corp. Analyst Jeff Radley C. See said in an e-mail last week.

“The company continues to give growth to its shareholders through various acquisitions and partnerships. They are gearing towards industries that the country lacks like e-payment, transportation, and medicine,” he said.

“With these, markets have reacted bullishly that’s why prices continued to trend up and trading at 13-year high,” he added.

Investors’ bought Greenergy for weeks as they speculated its fintech ventures, which is the main reason for the stock’s wide trading range, according to Regina Capital Development Corp. Equity Analyst Anna Corenne M. Agravio.

“Once news broke and Greenergy fully disclosed its plans, a lot of the investors took profits considering Greenergy’s share price was up 90% year-to-date at one point,” she said in an e-mail.

In a disclosure last Monday, Greenergy signed a term sheet buying ABS-CBN Corp.’s stake in U-Pay Digital Technologies, Inc. — the broadcaster’s joint venture with iBayad Online Ventures, Inc. — to the tune of P54 million, which would result in the Tiu-led holding firm owning 51% of the fintech company.

U-Pay is engaged in e-commerce as well as a licensed electronic money issuer by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Shares in Greenergy hit its peak on March 2 when they reached P4.94 apiece during trading, later finishing at P4.83 per share — a record high dating back to 2009.

Last Feb. 23, Greenergy entered into a share subscription agreement with manufacturing and trading firm Ocean Biochemistry Technology Research, Inc. (OBTRI) worth P3.75 million. Once the shares have been issued, it will own 60% of OBTRI.

Prior to the deal, OBTRI is 51% owned by M2000 Imex Co., Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of another Tiu-led listed firm AgriNurture, Inc.

Meanwhile, Greenergy confirmed to the local bourse last Feb. 19 that it was in “advanced stage of negotiation” with Singapore-based fintech firm Aleta Planet Pte. Ltd. for their proposed partnership, which includes issuance of co-branded virtual accounts and remittance services.

Greenergy entered into an agreement last January with ITBS Information Technology Business Solutions to incorporate the former’s ePitaka payment platform with the latter’s Know Your Citizen platform installed in various local government units in the Philippines.

Analysts said these ventures are yet to materialize in Greenergy’s earnings in the near term as these deals are still in the initial stages.

“While the acquisition will prove profitable in the future, it likely won’t materialize in Greenergy’s earnings in the near term yet,” Ms. Agravio said.

“Greenergy can provide a variety of products to offer to the market,” Mr. See said.

Likewise, he does not see the deals influencing the company’s profitability yet as “the plans are still in the initial stages,” he added.

Greenergy is businessman’s Mr. Tiu’s diversified holding firm with interests in renewable energy, agriculture, real estate, information and technology, and waste management.

Its attributable net loss narrowed to P15.15 million in the nine months to September last year from P18.07-million loss in 2019.

For this week, Mr. See pegged the stock’s support levels at P3.50 and P3.80, while resistance levels will be at P4.60 and P4.94.

Ms. Agravio placed Greenergy’s support range at P3.70 to P3.90 and resistance at P4.60.