SSI gains 6.67% on listing

SSI Group Inc., which retails luxury and middle-income brands like Gucci, Hermes and GAP, rose on its first day of trading Friday although some investors were still left disappointed.

SSI closed Friday at P7.99 a share, up 6.67 percent from its P7.50 listing price, but lower than its opening at P8.49, the session high. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index was down 0.43 percent yesterday.

A trader and an analyst noted that the disappointment came due to intense clamor for shares of SSI during its offer, which raised P6.5 billion before overallotment shares were exercised. So-called over-the-counter transactions in the days leading up to the trading debut valued SSI at about P8.50 a share, they said.

The IPO was seven times overbooked on its international tranche while local investor demand was three times the available shares, SSI officials said.

“Investors were expecting a bit more, especially with the OTC offers,” Jose Mari Lacson, head of research at stockbrokerage firm Campos Lanuza and Co., said in an interview.

He gave SSI a target of P9.50 over the next 12 months, while noting that the next few trading days were crucial “to ascertain demand” for the retailer, which was established 27 years ago by the Tantoco family.