Loss-making miner becomes most-traded Philippine stock with 103% gain

Abra Mining & Industrial Corp. has no revenue and zero analyst coverage. Yet, the loss-making mining company’s stock has more than doubled in 2021 and is also the most-traded name in the Philippines.

The penny stock’s surge showcases the extremes to which the retail mania has reached in the Philippines, home to one of the world’s worst-performing equity markets this year. Discouraged by the decline in the nation’s benchmark gauge, mom-and-pop investors have been loading up on speculative names in the hope of lucrative returns.

“Punters favor third liners like Abra particularly when the market is consolidating and there’s not much catalyst to move the market higher,” said Astro del Castillo, managing director at First Grade Finance Inc. “They like stocks like Abra because it’s easier to make money – little is needed to move it up.”

Shares of Abra Mining accounted for almost 80% of the Philippine market’s average daily transaction volume this year through Feb. 3. The stock is up 103% this year even as the Philippine Stock Exchange Index has fallen 3.3%.

Some market watchers have attributed the surge in Abra Mining to speculation that a new investor will come in to develop its gold mines. The company has two gold-mining projects in northern Philippines, one of which began operations in the 1970s, according to its website.

“Many retail investors are buying stocks on stories rather than fundamentals,” said Rachelle Cruz, an analyst at AP Securities Inc. “They don’t look at the numbers.”

(By Ian Sayson)