Posted on March 30, 2011 09:40:04 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
ACM Landholdings, Inc., a niche player in the property industry that caters to families of seafarers, is looking to sell up to 30% of the company on the local bourse later this year to complement other fund-raising moves for its projects, officials yesterday said.
It hopes to raise P1 billion from the planned public share sale on top of the P500 million being sought from a private investor, they said.
Fresh funds will be used to expand beyond its existing projects in Batangas and Cavite to Visayas and Mindanao in a bid to grow income by 25% to P180 million.
“The barrier to growth is fresh capital. This is a very capital-intensive industry,” Carolina S. Osteria, chief finance officer of ACM Landholdings, said in a briefing.
“We will float about 20%-30% of the company depending on share prices,” she added, noting that this could occur by the third quarter at the earliest.
ACM Landholdings had deferred its initial public offering twice already, of which the first time was in 1997 when the Asian financial crisis hit.
In 2008, the company completed a due diligence with underwriter BDO Capital and Investment Corp. but the listing was again postponed given the global financial crisis.
The listing this year will add to the P500 million the company seeks to raise from a private placement expected in the first half, Antonette P. de Guzman, managing director of the company, said.
The 18-year-old ACM Homes has already sold almost 10,000 low- and mid-income homes at P300,000 to P3.5 million each, bulk of which were sold to families of seafarers.
ACM Landholdings has developed 15 projects covering around 100 hectares in Batangas and Cavite. Robust demand will allow the company to post growth again this year, officials said.
ACM Landholdings recognized revenues of P823 million last year versus P600 million in 2009. It is targeting P180 million in net income for 2011 versus the P144 million recorded the year previous.
For this year, the company wants to launch three to four projects in the two provinces with a record 2,500 units, Ms. de Guzman said.
The property firm is also looking at Visayas and Mindanao for further growth. This is better than the 2,000 homes launched in 2010.
“We are looking in Davao and Iloilo because we are taking the [crew management companies] Philippine Transmarine Carriers (PTC),” Ms. Osteria said.
PTC allowed ACM Landholdings to exclusively tap nearly 35,000 marine officers and crew for growth. -- N. J. C. Morales
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