Dividend Ex-Dates in the Philippines in the Next Three (3) Months as of 02-Mar-2015

Here's our monthly dose of upcoming dividend ex-dates in the next three (3) months. 

"Dividend Ex-Date" is the actual ex-date already announced by the company.

"Next Estimated Ex-Dividend Date" as the name implies, is the estimated next dividend ex-date of the company based on their historical trend of dividend releases.

If you want additional items to be added on this table hit the comment button below and we'll try to get them included next month.

Enjoy!

Ticker	Short Name	Market Cap (PhP)	Last Price (PhP)	Dividend Ex-Date	Next Estimated Ex-Dividend Date	Dividend Yield
MFC PM Equity	MANULIFE FIN	1,450,000,000,000	735	2/20/2015	5/15/2015	2.98
SLF PM Equity	SUN LIFE FINANCI	826,000,000,000	1347	2/20/2015	5/25/2015	3.78
SM PM Equity	SM INVESTMENTS	703,000,000,000	880	5/27/2014	5/26/2015	1.18
TEL PM Equity	PHILIPP LONG DIS	683,000,000,000	3162	8/22/2014	3/12/2015	4.37
SMPH PM Equity	SM PRIME HLDGS	571,000,000,000	19.76	5/12/2014	5/11/2015	0.96
ALI PM Equity	AYALA LAND INC	532,000,000,000	36.25	3/3/2015	9/7/2015	1.15
BDO PM Equity	BDO UNIBANK INC	397,000,000,000	111		3/9/2015	1.08
AP PM Equity	ABOITIZ POWER	327,000,000,000	44.4	3/20/2014	3/16/2015	2.84
MER PM Equity	MANILA ELECTRIC	316,000,000,000	280	3/18/2015	8/18/2015	1.31
AEV PM Equity	ABOITIZ EQUITY	315,000,000,000	56.85	3/20/2014	3/16/2015	2.23
MBT PM Equity	METRO BANK & TR	254,000,000,000	92.55		3/4/2015	1.08
GLO PM Equity	GLOBE TELECOM	253,000,000,000	1905	2/13/2015	5/20/2015	1.09
JFC PM Equity	JOLLIBEE FOODS	234,000,000,000	219.8	11/24/2014	5/4/2015	0.81
ICT PM Equity	INTL CONTAIN TER	228,000,000,000	112.1	4/23/2014	4/22/2015	0.76
DMC PM Equity	DMCI HLDGS INC	210,000,000,000	15.8	5/27/2014	5/26/2015	1.52
SMC PM Equity	SAN MIGUEL	184,000,000,000	77.5	12/29/2014	4/23/2015	1.81
EDC PM Equity	ENERGY DEVELOPME	166,000,000,000	8.85	10/15/2014	3/11/2015	1.15
SCC PM Equity	SEMIRARA MINING	166,000,000,000	155.6	5/12/2014	5/11/2015	2.57
MPI PM Equity	METRO PACIFIC IN	150,000,000,000	5.4	3/20/2015	4/2/2015	1.39
RLC PM Equity	ROBINSONS LAND	115,000,000,000	28	5/26/2014	5/25/2015	1.29
PCOR PM Equity	PETRON CORP	95,813,566,464	10.22	4/3/2014	4/2/2015	0.49
MWC PM Equity	MANILA WATER	64,213,389,312	31.85	3/3/2015	10/15/2015	2.56
PX PM Equity	PHILEX MINING CO	40,511,270,912	8.2	3/6/2015		0.48
PSE PM Equity	PHILIPPINE STOCK	26,050,041,856	355	3/20/2015		1.55
TA PM Equity	TRANS-ASIA OIL	11,000,000,000	2.26	3/4/2015		1.76
EEI PM Equity	EEI CORP	10,984,584,192	10.6	11/26/2014	4/6/2015	1.89
CHIPS PM Equity	CIRTEK HOLDINGS	6,530,000,000	21.2	3/5/2015		1.62
BLFI PM Equity	BDO LEASING & FI	5,211,565,568	2.41	3/6/2015		7.29

Source: Bloomberg

DISCLAIMER: 

This is not an investment advice and the author shall not be responsible or liable for any trading or investment decisions made based on this information.

The author hereby expressly disclaims any responsibility for any error or inaccuracy in the information.

The Cost of Trading Stocks in the Philippines with Sample Computations

Below is a sample computation of the trading cost incurred when you buy and sell a stock listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange with your online stock broker. The numbers presented are based on the actual (rate of) brokerage/tax/handling fees as presented by COL Financial Group Inc. Enjoy!

Breakdown of computation assuming you buy and sell EDC:

Stock Ticker: EDC

Company Name: Energy Development Corporation

Number of shares bought/sold: 20,000

Price bought/sold: PHP 5.00*

*The current market price of EDC as of this writing is 8.65, we used 5.00 in our sample computation for demonstration purposes.

Description (Buying)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Number of Shares	# of shares bought	20,000
Stock Price	price bought	5
Trade Value	Stock Price * Number of Shares	100,000
Buying Cost 1: Commission	0.0025 * Trade Value	250
Buying Cost 2: VAT	0.12 * Commission	30
Buying Cost 3: PSE Trans Fee	0.00005 * Trade Value	5
Buying Cost 4: SCCP (Clearing Fee)	0.0001 * Trade Value	10
Total Cost of Buying (TCofB)		295
Total Cost of Buying as % of Trade Value		0.30%
Description (Selling)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Number of Shares	# of shares sold	20,000
Stock Price	price sold	5
Trade Value	Stock Price * Number of Shares	100,000
Selling Cost 1: Commission	0.0025 * Trade Value	250
Selling Cost 2: VAT	0.12 * Commission	30
Selling Cost 3: PSE Trans Fee	0.00005 * Trade Value	5
Selling Cost 4: SCCP (Clearing Fee)	0.0001 * Trade Value	10
Selling Cost 5: Sales Tax	0.005 * Trade Value	500
Total Cost of Selling (TCofS)		795
Total Cost of Selling as % of Trade Value		0.80%
Description (Total Buying and Selling)	Formula/Computation	Breakdown (PHP)
Total Cost of Buying AND Selling	(TCofB + TCofS)	1,090
Total Cost of Buying AND Selling as % of Trade Value	(TCofB + TCofS) / Trade Value	1.09%*

*Assuming you bought and sold stock EDC at the same price, you will lose 1.09% of your money due to the cost of trading - This is precisely the reason why newbie Traders, or even the experienced Traders should really avoid over-trading. 1.09% may seem a little, but do it 10 times (assuming you bought and sold at the same price) and you've lost 10%, do it 50 times and you've lost 50% - of course I'm simplifying the math, but you get the point. =)

So what can we do to minimize the transactions costs? Bearing in mind that a LOT of small things is actually a LOT.

If you observe carefully, the biggest chunk of all the cost of trading is from the Sales Tax. Almost 50% of your trading (buying/selling) cost is from the Sales Tax and as name implies this only applies when you sell your shares of stocks as seen in the breakdown above.

Hence one of the best strategies to minimize your cost of trading is the Buy-and-Hold strategy, this strategy is a simple strategy to buy strong, fundamentally sound stocks at an attractive price and hold it for as long as the "strong fundamentals" haven't change. This is the investment strategy being implemented by the investment greats such as Warren Buffet, Philip Fisher, John Bogle etc. 

I remember a quote from W. Buffet saying,

 "Our favorite holding period is forever".

If we take Buffet's example to the extreme, buying a very strong, fundamentally sound company and holding it forever, this means Buffet will never have to pay any Sales Tax for the rest of his life! Compare this with a very active trader always getting in and out of a stock, every time he gets in and out - he has to beat that 1.09% hurdle just to break-even and he has to the beat that hurdle on every trade for the rest of his trading career - Just to break-even.

But of course even Buffet himself does not hold ALL of his stocks forever - it's just his ideal scenario. He sells from time to time, but after a pretty long holding period maximizing his cost of trading - of w/c when you check the math, actually makes a lot of sense.

Happy investing.

DISCLAIMER: 

This is not an investment advice and the author shall not be responsible or liable for any trading or investment decisions made based on this information.

The author hereby expressly disclaims any responsibility for any error or inaccuracy in the information.