The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) said capital raising via its platform may hit a new record this year due to a series of real estate investment trust (REIT) listings.
PSE President Ramon S. Monzon said he is bullish about the prospects of equaling the P228.33 billion raised in 2012, which included some secondary shares.
In the first semester, the PSE had already raised P122.46 billion, higher than the P103.76 billion raised in the entire 2020.
“So far, we’ve hit P122 billion and with luck smiling on us, hopefully, we can approximate that high or we can exceed that high,” Monzon said, adding that the pandemic has made it more difficult for firms to borrow money as banks had to tighten their lending standards.
“Because of the economic difficulties, a lot of the companies had to borrow, and, I guess, they were reaching their credit limits. But their need for capital continues so they have to go to the equities market.”
The REIT listings, however, are the main contributors to the increase, and without it the PSE cannot raise as much through regular initial public offering (IPO) or share sale.
Monzon said three REITs will list on the PSE while Jollibee Foods Corp. is planning to conduct a preferred share sale in the coming months.
Megaworld Corp. is planning the biggest REIT IPO so far at P27.3 billion, followed by Robinsons Land Corp. with P26.67 billion, and Filinvest Land Inc. with P14.88 billion.
Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. is also planning its VREIT IPO in the fourth quarter but the company has yet to disclose the target size while AllDay Markets Inc., the Villar supermarket arm, is planning a P5 billion to P6 billion IPO by October.
Jollibee plans to raise P8 billion to P12 billion from its preferred share offering, which will bring the capital-raising target to at least P87 billion in the second semester.
If these fund-raising activities push through, total capital raised, excluding VREIT, should reach at least P209.31 billion this year. A new record can be hit if the VREIT IPO reaches P19 billion or if there are other stock offerings that will be added to the pipeline.