|
LISTED
First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) admitted to have
considered listing its shares at the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE) but present conditions forced the
company to rethink its plan.
Company
president Elpidio Ibañez said they did not pursue the
plan because they thought their market capitalization,
which currently stands at P22.7 billion, was not big
enough.
“We’ve
looked at that [plan] several times already. If our
market capitalization were big enough, then maybe the
NYSE would be useful. But at today’s level, it is still
not attractive,” he said in an interview.
Apart
from the NYSE, FPHC—the holding firm for the power,
tollways and manufacturing businesses of the Lopez
Group—also looked at the potential of listing at the
Singapore and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges.
“If you
want your shares to be valued more and raise money,
maybe that is when you consider tapping major exchanges
abroad. However, given today’s market conditions, it is
not the right time to raise more money via equity,”
Ibañez added.
A senior
market strategist at a foreign brokerage firm agreed
with the decision of FPHC to slow down on plans of
listing abroad.
“Liquidity of the stock is a major factor. And if you
are illiquid, you’ll never gain investors’ interest.
It’s better to wait for market conditions to improve and
while doing that, perhaps FPHC can implement programs to
improve its liquidity,” the market analyst said.
FPHC
earlier said it may negotiate financing for a
$70-million loan that will be maturing in 2009.
“We may
raise financing in 2008 and if there’s a window later
this year, we may have borrowings,” said Ibañez. “The
market is still fidgety because of global happenings
currently affecting the financial market. We will still
study our options.”
Last
month, FPHC sold series B perpetual preferred shares
worth P5 billion. The sale involved primary shares
totalling to 30 million with an over-allotment option of
20 million priced at P100 each.
The
shares are cumulative, nonvoting, nonparticipating and
nonconvertible peso-denominated issuances. Each share
has a par value of P100 and a liquidation right
equivalent to P100.
The
issuance was taken from the company’s P200-million
authorized preferred share capital.
The
proceeds raised will be use to partially repay/refinance
outstanding debts amounting to around P1.5 billion; fund
strategic acquisitions programmed this year up to 2011;
and pay for other capital and operating requirements.
“The
company plans to acquire additional stake in Meralco
should the government proceed with its public
pronouncements to sell Meralco shares held by the
national government and/or government-owned and
controlled corporations,” Ibañez said.
FPHC is
also open to exploring other investment opportunities in
electronics/electricals manufacturing and other
infrastructure projects such as tollroads. |
