Posted on February 16, 2012 10:38:57 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
CENTURY PROPERTIES Group, Inc. is looking to sell shares to Dutch investor APG Strategic Real Estate Pool N.V., a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed yesterday.
Following a special meeting last Wednesday, the company’s board of directors moved to engage in a placing and subscription agreement for shares of its flagship unit, Century Properties, Inc. (CPI), the disclosure read.
“While the company confirms that it is in discussions with certain investors regarding financing opportunities, no definitive agreement has been reached with respect to any transaction,” Century Properties clarified.
If the transaction pushes through, the company’s public float will rise to the minimum required by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Century Properties had been among the 41 publicly-listed firms who failed to meet the PSE’s minimum public float requirement of 10% by Nov. 30, 2011.
The company currently has a free float level of 6.4% according to recent PSE data.
The transaction will also broaden the company’s portfolio base, an analyst said.
“Maybe it’s positioning for compliance of its public float, but another angle for the share sale would be diversification and beefing up its reach in other countries,” Freya B. Natividad, analyst for online brokerage 2TradeAsia.com, told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview yesterday.
“It’s one of their ways to boost their property portfolio,” Ms. Natividad said.
The company was not immediately available for further details on the deal.
Century Properties, a high-rise developer which claims to have more than 40 projects in its total portfolio as of last year, has already completed a total of over 22 buildings and 720 homes according to its Web site.
The firm debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange last September by way of backdoor listing, replacing energy firm East Asia Power Resources Corp.
The company hiked its capital expenditures this year to P8.3 billion versus the P2.6 billion allotted for 2011.
So far, Century Properties has reported P779.65 million in net income attributable to the company’s equity holders for January to October, 399% higher than the P156.66 million booked in the same period last year.
Century Properties shares plunged by 3.24% to P2.09 yesterday from P2.16 at its previous close. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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