SL Agritech lists P1.87 billion CPs on PDEx

MANILA, Philippines — SL Agritech Corp., the largest producer of hybrid rice and seeds in the country, has listed P1.866 billion worth of commercial papers at the Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. (PDEx) as it seeks to grow the company amid rising demand for its products.

During the virtual listing ceremony for the CPs, SL Agritech chairman and CEO Henry Lim Bon-Liong said the company has experienced greater demand for its products amid the pandemic.

“We receive orders from various LGUs for rice to be given to their constituents as a form of ayuda. Several foundations also put batch orders of rice to the less fortunate Filipinos,” Lim said

“Our processing plant in Talavera, Nueva Ecija and in Laguna has been operating 24/7 just to catch up to the mountains of orders,”he said.

Lim said the company is seeking to prepare itself for future demand for its products.

“We at SL Agritech are preparing for the expected strong demand for food, especially (since) rice is inelastic and will not be affected by any catastrophe, pandemic, or any other natural or man-made calamities,”Lim said.

He said the company’s new rice processing plant in Tarlac with state-of-the-art technology would start operating early next year.

“This will double our rice production capacity and which will address the rising demands for rice, help fuel the growth of the company.

For his part, PDEx president and CEO Antonio Nakpil welcomed the listing of SL Agritech’s CPs.

“SL Agritech is now the preeminent and most prolific lister of commercial paper with enough experience in the use of this instrument to provide subject matter expertise on accessing public investor funding for working capital requirements,”Nakpil said.

The addition of SL Agritech’s CPs bring the total value of new listings on the PDEx platform for 2021 to P210.45 billion covering 53 companies.