Alliance Select pushes back S’pore listing

MANILA, Philippines - Tuna and salmon processor Alliance Select Foods International Inc. has pushed back its plan to list in the Singapore bourse pending a resolution of Philippine taxation issues.

The homegrown seafood exporter is also focusing on integrating its fishing operations that will drive higher profits, its top executive said.

Alliance Select president and CEO Jonathan Y. Dee said the debut in the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd.’s Catalist or second board will likely be conducted early next year.

“It could be early next year, It depends on how fast we can hear back from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR),” Dee said.

Specifically, Alliance Select is required to notify the BIR of a share purchase or sale 15 days before the transaction. This will allow the transaction to be tax-exempt under the Philippines-Singapore tax treaty.

However, Dee said stock transactions are hard to predict. Alliance Select is instead offering to make a post-trading application for the tax exemption.

In September, Alliance Select secured approval from its board of directors for the plan to debut in the Singapore bourse.

The board allowed the sale of up to 430.29 million Singapore Depository Shares (SDS), which are foreign shares held on deposit by a custodian bank. The underlying shares that represent the SDS will be listed in the local bourse.

Dee said the sale of new shares will allow the seafood exporter to generate fresh funds for expansion projects.

For this year, Alliance Select is spending $17 million for its Philippine operations and $4 million for Indonesia.

“The key right now for us is to build up the fishing divisions that’s why the capital expenditures is all focused towards that,” Dee said.

Dee also said that the integration of the fishing division will ensure cheaper raw materials for the canning operations.

Indonesian subsidiary PT Van De Zee is building four new catchers that will be ready to sail late this year and in 2014. It will support the tuna cannery operations of P.T. International Alliance Food Indonesia.

Last year, Alliance Select moved into aquaculture by acquiring 80 percent of Akaroa Salmon Ltd., a pioneer in king salmon fishing farming and an iconic brand in New Zealand, for P97 million.

For this year, Alliance Select is targeting to grow its profits by 30-35 percent from $1.359 million in 2012, Dee said.

“As we implement the integration, there will be more supply of fish and higher capacity utilization of factories so we will see more income in the future,” Dee said.

The firm started engaging in tuna processing, canning, and export of canned tuna products through its plant in Gen. Santos City in 2004.

To date, the company produces more than 200 metric tons of processed seafood daily, supplying hundreds of successful brand name companies across 60 countries around the world.

Alliance Select has factories in Gen. Santos City, Indonesia, US and Thailand.