Posted on May 11, 2012 06:36:07 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
BY FRANZ JONATHAN G. DE LA FUENTE,
Reporter
ROCKWELL LAND Corp. bucked the
market’s downtrend on Friday, with its share prices more than tripling at the
close of its first trading day amid announcements the property developer was
looking to grow profits by 20% this year.
Rockwell Land shares closed at P4.90
apiece, up 235.62% from its initial price after hitting an intraday high of
P7.71 on the same day. The firm had listed by way of introduction 6.23 billion
common shares totaling P9.1 billion on the stock exchange’s first board,
resulting into a public float of 14.9%.
In contrast, the Philippine Stock
Exchange index shed 0.65% or 33.96 points to close at 5,158.14, while the
broader all-share index dipped by 0.49% or 16.91 points to close at 3,405.22.
Listing by introduction is a method that
allows firms to have shares traded in the PSE without having to immediately
conduct an initial public offering (IPO). No fundraising was involved in the
transaction.
CLSA Exchange Capital, Inc. served as
financial adviser for the transaction.
For 2012, Rockwell Land is looking at
double-digit growth on the back of sustained sales from its ongoing and
existing properties.
"We would like to break the P1
billion [net income] level in 2012. So I think that would be at least 20%
growth for this year," Nestor J. Padilla, Rockwell Land president, told
reporters at a briefing yesterday.
This translates into a full-year net
income target of approximately P1.10 billion for 2012.
The company met earlier-announced
goals in 2011, recording a 14.23% profit growth to P915 million as revenues
climbed to P6.15 billion versus P4.89 billion year-on-year on the back of
higher sales from condominium units.
"The growth of Rockwell [Land]
this year will really be driven by two reasons: one is our development income
out of the condominiums that we develop and sell to the market, while the other
half is driven by our mall earnings," Mr. Padilla said.
Moving forward, Rockwell Land is open
to further fundraising via an equity sale in the future, as well as project
expansions beyond Metro Manila.
"We may look in Cebu and even
Davao. That’s being looked at by our business development people. In Metro
Manila, we have also been acquiring some good properties," said Manuel M.
Lopez, Rockwell Land chairman.
"We are contemplating bringing
the brand of Rockwell into the serviced apartment and hotel management
business. Our first attempt to be in the tourism segment is in Edaes where we
designed it to have four floors of serviced apartments," Mr. Lopez added,
noting that the apartments will be operational by December of 2014.
This year, Rockwell Land said it is
launching three projects: Greater Rockwell, a 3.6-hectare, mixed-use expansion
of its flagship 15.5-hectare Rockwell Center district in Makati City; Lopez
Tower, which is intended to be the headquarters of the firms under the Lopez
Group; and 205 Santolan, a 1.8-hectare low-density townhouse development, the
company’s first project in Quezon City.
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