San Miguel Corp, the largest food and beverage group in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, said it was looking at buying back a 27% stake that has been in legal limbo since 1986, Reuters writes.

San Miguel, which also announced its net income surged 465 in January and February versus a year earlier, said in a statement its "management agreed to study the buy-back".

But analysts said the plan might be hard to pull off because of on going court battles to determine who owns the stake, which would be worth around 46 billion pesos ($870 million) at the current share price.

The government, coconut farmers and a private coconut producers group all claim rights over the shares, which were allegedly amassed using funds from a levy illegally imposed on farmers during the regime of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

"The legal dispute on the ownership may make a buy-back impossible to pull off or not feasible in the near term," said Gilbert Lopez, an analyst at ING Baring Securities Philippines.

San Miguel Chairman Eduardo Cojuangco as his own investment, leaving the government, the coconut farmers and the coconut producers group to wrangle over the 27% share, claimed some 20%.

27 March, 2003