DoubleDragon [DD 10.30 unch] completed Phase 3 of the CentralHub-Tarlac project, which added 10,646 square metres of gross floor area (GFA) to DD’s portfolio, and pushed the total amount of GFA in DD’s portfolio over 1.2 million square metres.
DD’s Chairman, Injap Sia, said that the company had set the 1.2 million square metre mark as a goal, and that completion of Phase 3 of the CentralHub-Tarlac project had caused DD to achieve its goal one year ahead of target. Injap mentioned that the company continues working toward its “principal strategic goal” of doubling its total equity to P120 billion by 2030, and he (so far) has followed the roadmap that he has shared with investors with a high degree of fidelity. Thanks to synergies with companies in the Jollibee [JFC 193.60 2.22%] orbit, and Sia’s own convenience store and grocery chain, MerryMart [MM 3.18 7.29%], DD’s warehouses come baked with dependable related-party clients already in the mix.
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Those tailwinds should keep DD emboldened with its expansion plans, though it’s hard to say how things will go if the delta variant (or its future cousins) forces us back into the kind of lockdown that crippled our local economy.
MB BOTTOM-LINE
Injap Sia has worked the PSE with a skilled hand to raise capital and build a vast (and growing) empire of hard assets in industries that will form the foundation of the eventual post-COVID Philippine economy. Investors will likely cheer the early goal achievement and look at Injap’s 2030 vision with misty and hopeful eyes, but for some, DD’s intent for these properties is what matters most.
Will DD eventually transfer warehouses like this into its REIT, DDMP [DDMPR 1.80 3.74%], as many had assumed during DDMPR’s IPO, or will properties like this be included in the portfolio of the industrial REIT announced by JFC and DD just a few weeks ago? I have had several Barkadans contact me privately to discuss their disappointment with the uncertainty that the new JFC/DD REIT causes with respect to the value of DD, and more specifically, the growth prospects and value of DDMPR. Unfortunately, I feel the same way so far about DDMPR. I recognize the Injap Sia will cause DD and MM to expand quickly to meet his 2030 goals, but DDMPR has been extremely quiet since its launch, and the performance of the stock has been, to be blunt, terrible.
IPO investors in AREIT are up over 33% on just the stock itself, while IPO investors in DDMPR are down 20% as of yesterday’s close.
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