Firm banks on resurgent PH coconut industry in P7-B IPO pitch

Integrated coconut product manufacturer and exporter Axelum Resources Corp. is counting on the growth of exports of Philippine coconut products and a global wave of health and wellness trends to carry its company forward as it embarks on its initial public offering that could raise as much as P7.7 billion.

“The timing is perfect. We should seize the moment and go public,” Axelum chair Romeo Chan said in a statement, adding that the country’s coconut exports are likely to keep growing in the foreseeable future.

“Over the past 10 years, exports by the Philippine coconut industry have grown by approximately 10 percent annually,” he said.

The Axelum chair noted that while traditional coconut products, such as copra and crude coconut oil grew by around 11 percent annually, non-traditional products — which account for the bulk of the firm’s sales — grew by 25 percent annually.

Citing a recent study by the University of Asia and the Pacific, Axelum president Henry Raperoga said that over the next five years, the annual growth rate in desiccated coconut sector is expected to be in the high single-digits and the growth rate in coconut water is expected to be in the mid- to high-teens./TSB