Rockwell Land to enter ‘affordable’ property sector

Upscale property developer Rockwell Land Corp. is considering to raise funds from a follow-on equity offering alongside plans to break into the affordable residential property development and diversify to new areas outside Metro Manila.

In a briefing after the company’s stockholders’ meeting on Wednesday, Rockwell president Nestor Padilla said he expected a sustained increase in profitability this year, setting a bottomline guidance of P1.4 billion to P1.5 billion against a net profit of P1.1 billion in 2012. Sales growth is projected at 25-30 percent this year.

Padilla said that since the company listed by way of introduction last year, it had been invited—and convinced—by investment bankers to conduct overseas road shows such as in Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.

“I think at the right time, we will be doing a follow-on offering. At this time, we’re happy with what we have now,” Padilla said. Asked whether a follow-on offering (also known as a re-IPO [initial public offering]) could take place this year, Padilla said it was a possibility. “What will dictate it is when we have a clear use of proceeds,” he said.

For 2013, Rockwell has budgeted P12 billion for capital spending. However, it has a number of big-ticket projects in the pipeline for the next few years, including the P26-billion five-tower Proscenium.

This year, Rockwell will draw up plans to broaden its market share and offer more affordable products through a new subsidiary, Primaries Development Corp. Padilla told Rockwell stockholders that Primaries would launch by June this year its first project—a mid-rise residential project in New Manila called 53 Benitez.

For 53 Benitez, Primaries has master-planned a mid-rise medium-density project with two towers and 364 units for both towers. These will offer two- to three-bedroom units designed for starter homes.

Selling price for 53 Benitez will start at P86,000 to P90,000/sqm, which suggests that the units will be priced at between P5.1 million and P8.55 million.