IT firm’s debut stocks down 7.78%

Software provider Touch Solutions Inc. saw its share price fall 7.78 percent during its stock trading debut on the second board of the Philippine Stock Exchange Monday.

TSI aims to be “the premier open systems enterprise solutions provider for infrastructure software products and services” within the next two to three years but during its first day of trading Monday, its share price fell as the market focused more on blue chips with proven earnings record.

The company’s share price dipped to P4.15 from its initial public offering price of P4.50 Monday.

The company listed on the PSE’s second board, which is devoted to smaller firms including upstart companies with the potential for superior growth and with at least P250 million in market capitalization.

Part of TSI’s growth is expected to come from the company’s expansion in four Asian territories: Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, TSI president Anson Uy said in a press briefing.

Based on Monday’s closing, the company had P250.87 million in market capitalization.

TSI raised P99 million from its IPO consisting of 22 million common shares, thus bringing 39.5 percent of its outstanding stock in public hands.

Manny Ocampo, director of Abacus Capital and Investment Corp., which acted as the IPO underwriter, said the stock debut was priced at a price to earnings ratio about 14x, in line with the valuation for global peers.—Doris C. Dumlao