DoubleDragon plans P7.5B follow-on stock offer

Edgar “Injap” Sia II

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties is raising up to P7.5 billion from a follow-on offering, aiming to boost its trading liquidity while expanding capital in line with an aspiration to be part of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) “in the near term.”

In line with this plan to return to the capital market, DoubleDragon has also upgraded its 2020 net profit goal to P5.5 billion from P4.8 billion as it expects its leasable portfolio to become bigger than originally projected by that time.

DoubleDragon now expects its 2020 leasable portfolio to reach 1.2 million square meters compared to the old target of one million square meters.

On the follow-on offering, the company’s board has approved a plan to sell 150 million new common shares to raise the P7.5 billion fresh capital.

“This planned follow on offering will be very timely because for the past two years, the company has been very active in numerous international roadshows and conferences, and we have met with over 300 institutional investors across the world. The planned offering will provide them the opportunity to secure a position in DoubleDragon during its high growth years,” said Hannah Yulo,
DoubleDragon chief investment officer.

As of end-March, the company’s total equity stood at P19.96 billion, with total assets reaching P49.7 billion.

“The company aims to be included as one of the blue chip stocks in the PSEi in the near term,” the company said, noting that last September 2016, it was one of five listed companies included in the PSEi reserve list due to the growth in the company’s market capitalization.

DoubleDragon is currently valued by the stock market at P107.7 billion, comparable to Robinsons Land Corp. which has a market capitalization of P100 billion.

The company’s new 2020 vision now includes the additional 100,000 sqms of leasable space from industrial leasing through Central Hub Industrial Centers Inc. and another 100,000 sqms (5,000 rooms) from Hospitality/Hotels through Hotel 101 and Jinjiang Inn brands. This is in addition to the 700,000 sqms of commercial retail leasing through CityMalls, and 300,000 square meters of office leasing from DD Meridian Park and Jollibee Tower.

“We are glad that DoubleDragon now has four strong legs in various property spectrums namely
commercial retail leasing, office leasing, industrial leasing, and hospitality, which will provide the
company with a diversified source of recurring revenues backed by a string of appreciating hard
assets,” said DoubleDragon chair Edgar “Injap” Sia II.

The company is set to form a wholly-owned subsidiary, Central Hub, as its industrial leasing arm. Central Hub is envisioned to be a branded standardized multi-use warehouse chain suited for commissaries, cold storage and logistic centers.

“DoubleDragon intends to dominate the branded industrial leasing industry in the near term through the development of Central Hubs in North Luzon, SouthLuzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The Central Hub chain will contain standardized multi-use warehouses suited for commissaries, cold storage and logistic centers, some of which will be built to the specifications for large commissary, cold storage and logistics locaters,” the company said.

The company intends to have its first 100,000 square meters of leasable industrial space completed by 2020.