Shares of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., which have long lagged PSEi peers during the recent run-up, have rebounded by 26.8 percent in the last two trading days. So what’s brewing in SMC? Stock dealers cite a play ahead of the company’s March 27 investors’ briefing on its 2013 annual results. Some say prices are catching up with the company’s net asset value of more than P100 a share. There was likewise speculation in the market that hard liquor unit Ginebra San Miguel will soon be up for grabs, which market sources say would be logical given the strong investor appetite for branded consumer businesses.
Asked about what he thinks of SMC’s run-up, company president Ramon Ang said the market could only be digesting the impact of SMC’s recent asset sale. “(It’s) maybe due to profit from Meralco,” he said in a text message Tuesday.
In January, Ang said SMC might post a P57-billion net profit in 2013, double the level in the previous year, due to extraordinary gains from the sale of its interest in Manila Electric Co.
On whether SMC was considering offers for Ginebra, Ang said: “I think it’s not yet in the agenda for the March board meeting.”
The operative word is “yet.” Doris C. Dumlao
Dried mango mania
The supply of dried mangoes in SM Mall of Asia “dried up” in an instant over the weekend as hundreds of Chinese tourists jostled to get their fill of their favorite pasalubong.
A Biz Buzz source reported that more than 400 agents and executives of Manulife Sinochem from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Nanjing in China literally swept MOA’s shelves of the delectable preserved sweet “in a matter of minutes.” The Manulife executives were in the Philippines on a company incentive tour arranged by the Department of Tourism and Ambassador Domingo Lee, Malacañang’s handpicked special envoy for tourism in China.
Geopolitical tensions notwithstanding, Lee’s special relations with the Chinese mainland has apparently led to the swelling number of Chinese nationals touring the country’s best tourist spots. DOT data showed that China is the Philippines’ fourth-biggest source of international tourists next to Korea, United States and Japan. For the first two months of 2014 alone, 426,352 Chinese tourist arrivals were recorded.
In fact, DOT officials swear that droves of dried mango-hoarding tourists have become familiar sights in some of the country’s top destinations. Aside from the preserved fruit, branded denim jeans are also a top draw. Apparently, branded jeans are quite expensive in China.
Unmindful of current tensions in the West Philippine Sea, DOT officials claimed that more and more Chinese tourists were being lured by the country’s pristine beaches and amazing sights. And dried mangoes, of course. Daxim L. Lucas
Happy problem
Edgar Sia II aka “Injap”—founder of Mang Inasal restaurant chain and the only businessman in Forbes’ 2013 roster of 50 richest Filipinos who’s still in his 30s—is in an upbeat mood after Monday’s investors briefing by DoubleDragon Properties Corp. (DD).
Sia is bringing a company public for the first time and DD, a partnership with a fellow “dragon” (born in the Lunar Year of the Dragon) Jollibee Foods Corp. founder Tony Tan Caktiong, will raise the curtain for the Philippine initial public offering market this year.
Sia told Biz Buzz that DD is now facing a “happy problem.” Citing a report from Leonardo Arguelles, president of IPO underwriter Unicapital as of yesterday afternoon, Sia said there were firm orders for DD shares that were already “three-folds” the base offer. DD didn’t even have to look too far to fill the P1.16-billion IPO as a big portion of the 3x oversubscription was driven by demand from franchisees of fastfood chains Mang Inasal and Jollibee. At the same time, Sia sees many local investors becoming long-term shareholders of DD.
While DD’s book-building is ongoing until Friday, Mar. 21, Sia said it looks like the IPO could be set at the maximum price of P2 a share given the strong demand for the offering. Most likely, Sia said the pricing will be finalized ahead of Friday’s schedule. “We’ll find a way to accommodate and be able to allocate to all,” he said.
DD’s underwriters expect the IPO to set a positive start of the 2014 IPO market. Grateful for the warm reception to DD’s public debut, Sia said this will “further inspire our team to strive harder to achieve our goals and grow the company exponentially in the next few years.” Doris C. Dumlao
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