Call center, online broker mull IPOs worth P2.66B

A leading call center firm and an online financial services company are planning to offer their stocks to the public to raise a total of P2.66 billion.

eTelecare Global Solutions Inc., a provider of call center services, said it plans to sell at least P2.5 billion of its stocks in an initial public offering (IPO) by early next year while CitisecOnline hopes to raise as much as P165 million from the maiden offering of its shares.

In an e-mail message to Bloomberg, eTelecare said the share sale, which may happen this year, may be expanded to as much as P5 billion. The shares may be listed on the technology-laden Nasdaq in New York or the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) or both, the company said.

The company forecasts its sales to rise to $170 million this year from about $150 million last year as it adds 3,500 employees. It has about 4,000 staff in the Philippines and 3,000 in the US.

The Philippines is promoting the call center and other back-office service industries by highlighting its relatively low-wage, English-speaking college graduates. The government in October said the nation had as many as 60,000 call center "seats," each equivalent to about 1.8 jobs, and the number may rise by 50 percent this year.

Meanwhile, CitisecOnline is offering a total of 110 million new shares at P1 to P1.50 each. The shares will be listed on the second board of the PSE.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund working capital requirements, expand market reach and customer base as well as programs aimed at retaining customers and satisfying their requirements.

CitisecOnline aims to be the leading online financial services provider in Asia, giving customers access to global markets and products.

It expects its online stock trading business to double this year, given the continued improvement in the government’s fiscal position, the low interest rate environment and the robust growth in overseas Filipino workers (OFW) remittances.

CitisecOnline said it hopes to take advantage of the growing Internet market to encourage retail investors to trade online.

The potential of online trading in the Philippines remains largely untapped as compared to the growth of the other markets in the region such as Korea where online traders comprise 81 percent of their market and Japan with online traders accounting for 70 percent, the company said.

The company’s online facility has generated a subscriber base of 500 and this is seen to double by the end of the year.

Citisec’s top clients account for a monthly average turnover of P5 million each.

CitisecOnline’s objective is to convince more Filipinos that the stock market’s biggest attraction is its ability to generate huge profit potential. The market’s retail investor base is seen to grow to as much as 250,000 from only 50,000.

The firm hopes to convert majority of current investors, who now trade through traditional brokerages, to online trading offering as low as 0.25 percent, off-hours trade placement, fundamental and technical analysis and other features as come-ons.

Capitalized at over P300 million, CitisecOnline is also a member of the Hong Kong Exchanges.