CPG’s commercial leasing business gets funding boost

Antonio family-led property developer Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) has boosted its financial muscle to expand commercial leasing assets with the completion of a P3-billion offering of preferred shares, which were listed on the local stock exchange yesterday.

CPG is earmarking P30 billion for capital outlays for the next three years starting this year as it continues to grow its residential condominium business while scaling up the contribution of affordable housing and commercial leasing portfolio.

The company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday 30 million newly issued preferred shares, which were sold at P100 per share. The dividend rate was set at 6.7177 percent a year for the first three years.

The offering was oversubscribed by two times the base offer of P2 billion, allowing the company to fully exercise its option to upsize by P1 billion.“We are very happy with the overwhelming market reception to CPG’s first fundraising exercise in the equity capital markets since 2011. This is a strong vote of confidence in the direction that the management has taken to drive growth for the company,” said CPG president and chief executive officer Jose Marco Antonio.“Preferred shares are attractive to us because it increases our equity base and allows us to take on more equity investors to improve our balance sheet,” Antonio said in a briefing after the listing ceremonies at the stock exchange. China Bank Capital Corp. was sole issue manager, lead underwriter and sole bookrunner for the offering. Proceeds from offering will be used to expand leasable assets.Antonio said the residential condominium business would continue to be the company’s main revenue driver this year, but noted that other business segments were gaining ground.He estimated that CPG still had about P26 billion worth of reservation sales, representing sales that could be booked as revenues subject to building progress.

Furthermore, CPG still had P16 billion to P18 billion worth of existing residential condominium inventory to date, he said.

“That said, contribution of affordable housing is accelerating. What was once coming from very negligible number of 10-11 percent should rise to mid (teen) double-digit,” Antonio said, adding that CPG would launch about three to four new affordable housing projects this year.

CPG was also set to launch a new residential brand that would bring to the market mid-rise condominium developments.

“If there’s a backlog of six million [residential units] outside Metro Manila, there’s actually a backlog of about a million in Metro Manila for value-oriented affordable condos with a price point of about P3 to P5 million. That’s going to be an exciting new chapter for Century,” Antonio said.