Rockwell Land shares surge

Shares of upscale property developer Rockwell Land Corp. more than tripled following the company’s listing by introduction on the local stock exchange Friday, rewarding Manila Electric Co. stockholders who received its common shares as property dividends.

Rockwell, which listed on the PSE under the ticker “Rock,” also announced Friday its goal to breach P1 billion in net profit for this year. This suggested potential earnings per share of 16 centavos for 2012.

The company’s share price surged by 235.6 percent to P4.90 per share on its listing. Rockwell listed all of its 6.23 billion shares at P1.46 per share on Friday. At closing, the company’s share price traded at over 30 times the expected earnings per share for this year.

The property arm of the Lopez family listed on the local stock exchange by way of introduction – or without any public offering – resulting from a property dividend declaration by Meralco of its 51 percent stake.

In a briefing on Friday, Rockwell president Nestor Padilla said the rise in share prices may be due to investors’ excitement over the company’s growth prospects.

This year, he said net profit was likely to grow by 20 percent from the P915-million bottom line in 2011. He said revenues would likely grow by 20-25 percent to P7.4 billion.

Most of the company’s business comes from condominium development while recurring income, including rental of shopping mall space at the Power Plant Mall and other office developments, accounts for 40 percent.

Rockwell started operations in 1995 by redeveloping an old thermal power plant into an upscale mixed-use community now known as Rockwell Center in Makati.