Fund-raising activities at the stock and bond markets are poised to achieve record levels this year, as companies embark on aggressive expansion.
Initial public offerings at the Philippine Stock Exchange and corporate bond listings at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. may reach new all-time high as more companies raise funds with the reopening of the economy.
PSE president and chief executive Ramon Monzon said this projection was based on the pipeline of IPO applications pending with the regulators and the completed maiden share offerings.
“Given the lineup of maiden offers in the next half of the year, we may see a 26-year high in terms of the number of IPOs in a year,” Monzon said.
Eight companies conducted IPOs in the first half, with five listed on the main board and three on the small, medium and emerging board.
Among the listed firms that debuted in the first half were Haus Talk Inc., Figaro Coffee Group Inc., Citicore Energy REIT Corp., Bank of Commerce, CTS Global Equity Group Inc., Raslag Corp., VistaREIT Inc. and Balai ni Fruitas Inc.
Four companies have pending IPO applications with the regulators, including Alternergy Holdings Corp. (P2.18 billion), ORCA Cold Chain Solutions Inc. (P1.6 billion), Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.(P28.1 billion) and Upson International Inc. (P5.4 billion).
Monzon is hopeful that more companies will file their IPO applications as the benchmark index starts to recover from recent decline caused by market volatility.
The exchange put in place rules on initial listing through preferred shares offering to sustain the listing activities. This gives companies the flexibility to tap the equities market by selling preferred shares, instead of common shares.
The PSE expects value offerings to hit P200 billion this year because of robust IPOs and other capital raising activities such as rights offering and follow-on offerings.
The target is 14.5 percent lower than the record P234 billion achieved in 2021, which was boosted by Monde Nissin Corp’s P55.89-billion maiden share offering, the largest IPO in PSE history.
Meanwhile, corporate bond listings at PDEx is also expected to set a new record high this year as more companies return to the domestic bond market for funding requirements.
Listings from 19 companies reached P352.12 billion in the first half, within striking distance from the all-time high of P387.8 billion registered in 2020.
PDEx president and chief executive Antonino Nakpil said many companies tapped the local bond market in the first half ahead of the expected interest rate increase by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Companies are also looking to diversify their funding sources to finance projects.
The largest bond listing this year was the P52.7-billion Asean sustainability bonds issued by BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest lender.
Other top bond offerings this year were SM Prime Holdings Inc. ( P30 billion), San Miguel Corp. (P30 billion), Bank of the Philippine Islands (P27 billion), SM Investments Corp. (P15 billion), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (P 14.75 billion), Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. (P10 billion), Aboitiz Power Corp. (P10 billion), Ayala Land Inc. (P12 billion) and Century Properties Group Inc. (P3 billion).
Companies with pending bond offering applications include Cebu Landmasters Inc. (P8 billion), Robinsons Land Corp. (P15 billion) and AC Energy (P10 billion).
