By Matthew Miguel L. Castillo, Researcher
SHARES of Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. declined week on week amid concerns over its possible exclusion from the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), while weaker economic growth forecasts also weighed on market sentiment, analysts said.
Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed Converge was the 13th most actively traded stock in the course of the week, with 53 million shares value P505.66 million changing hands as of Friday.
Converge shares fell 7.1% week on week to P9.20 apiece from P9.90. The stock underperformed each the services sector, which gained 5%, and the PSEi, which rose 1.6% over the identical period.
12 months thus far, the stock has declined 39.9% from its Dec. 31, 2025 closing price of P15.32, compared with a 43.8% gain for the services sector and a 3.9% increase for the PSEi.
“The story here is index-exclusion risk, nothing company-specific,” Jervin S. De Celis, equity trader at The First Resources Management and Securities Corp., said in an e-mail.
First Metro Securities said in its stock call report last week that Converge stays the leading candidate for exclusion from the PSEi within the index’s August rebalancing.
The brokerage said the corporate’s low volume-weighted average price had caused its full market capitalization to rank the bottom amongst current PSEi constituents.
Aniceto K. Pangan, equity trader at Diversified Securities, Inc., said in a Viber message there’s a “big possibility” that Converge might be replaced by Maynilad Water Services, Inc., adding that almost all investors are “preparing for the eventuality.”
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF)/Asian Development Bank (ADB) downgrades and the Iran headlines created a cautious tone out there and could have probably weighed down sentiment on Converge’s stock price as well,” Mr. De Celis said.
In separate announcements last week, the IMF and the ADB lowered their 2026 Philippine economic growth forecasts to three.9% from 4.1% and to three.8% from 4.4%, respectively.
Each institutions cited elevated prices resulting from the US-Iran war as a possible drag on economic growth this 12 months.
Mr. De Celis said concerns over a possible economic slowdown stemming from the conflict had dampened overall risk appetite within the local market, making developments in the approaching trading sessions necessary to watch.
He also cited the corporate’s higher trade receivables reported in its first-quarter financial statements as a possible factor behind the stock’s weekly decline.
Compared with Dec. 31 levels, Converge’s trade receivables from residential subscriber Groups 1, 2, and three increased by 44.8%, 6.2%, and 24.6%, respectively, as of end-March.
Group 3 subscribers are those whose balances have been classified as “unrecoverable” after remaining uncollected despite multiple collection efforts.
Trade receivables from this group reached P753.31 million at end-March from P748.18 million at end-2025.
For the approaching trading sessions, Mr. Pangan said he expects the stock to “perform negatively moving forward” given current conditions.
Mr. De Celis said investors should look ahead to the PSE’s formal announcement on the August 2026 index rebalancing in the approaching days to gauge the stock’s direction.
“If Converge is confirmed for exclusion, there might be one other leg of mechanical selling although lots of that’s arguably priced in already,” he said.
Mr. De Celis placed near-term support at P9 per share and resistance at P8.90.