PSE on track to hitting P200-B capital-raising target this year

MANILA, Philippines - The local bourse is on track to hitting its P200-billion target capital to be raised this year, with already P75 billion in issuances to date, Philippine Stock Exchange president and chief executive officer Hans Sicat said yesterday.

He said the second half of the year would see more companies raising capital, hitching a ride on the country’s growing economy.

While he declined to identify the companies, Sicat said these would come from the manufacturing, financing, branded consumer sectors, as well as banking.

“Banking would also be part of that,” he said.

“We are likely to hit the P200- billion issuance target for the year,” Sicat said.

The operator of the local bourse said despite the slower-than-expected first quarter growth of 5.7 percent, the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remain strong.

“There’s tremendous liquidity here at home,” Sicat said, adding this would help boost the stock market’s performance.

The first half of the year saw a number of companies making their debut in the stock market: DoubleDragon Properties Corp. and Century Pacific Food Inc. 

DoubleDragon, a property firm formed by the founders of Jollibee and Mang Inasal, made its debut in April, the first for the year. It raised P1.16 billion from 579.73 million shares priced at P2 per piece.

Century Pacific raised around P3.2 billion from its initial public offering in May of 229.652 million primary common shares, representing 10.3 percent of the outstanding shares, at P13.75 a piece.

The company is the leading branded food company engaged in the development, processing marketing and distribution of processed fish meat in the Philippines. It is also the leading company in the processed dairy products industry.

In 2013, the PSE’s net income jumped 35.1 percent to P844.8 million from P625.3 million a year ago due to higher listing and trading-related income.

The PSE said its revenues climbed 33.8 percent to P1.53 billion on the back of notable growth on all income components: listing-related income, trading-related earnings and service fees.