SBS sizzles on stock debut

SBS chair Necisto Sytengco (right) with BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco

SHARES of chemical trading and distribution firm SBS Philippines Corp. sizzled on Monday’s stock trading debut on the back of some “undervalued” property asset play.

Shares of SBS – a one-stop-shop resource for chemical requirements – surged by 49.8 percent at the Philippine Stock Exchange to close at P4.12 per share from the initial public offering price (IPO) of P2.75 per share. The sharp increase was attributed by stock traders to “asset play.”

In a press briefing after his company’s listing ceremony on the local stock exchange, SBS chair and president Necisto Sytengco said the initial public offering price of P2.75 per share had valued the company at around 20 times its 2014 earnings.

“But it’s very much undervalued,” Sytengco said, noting that the IPO price had not factored in the prime property owned by the company along Ayala Avenue in Makati, in Fort Bonifacio, in Las Pinas and along EDSA highway. “At present value, that’s easily within the range of P8 to P10 billion,” Sytengco said.

Adding to the property assets were the inventory and receivables but Sytengco noted that the company’s “goodwill” was never factored in the pricing. In corporate lingo, “goodwill” is an asset that considers intangible factors like brand name, customer base, customer relations employee relations and any patents or proprietary technology.

“The company should be traded between P10 to P15 to make a break-even cost,” Sytengco added.

The company raised P1.15 billion in fresh funds for expansion from this public offering.

As of Monday’s closing, SBS was valued by the market at P3.3 billion or only about a third of the estimated current value of property assets that the company chair said were not factored in the IPO pricing.

SBS intends to use proceeds from this offering to expand its product offering and invest in capital expenditures to promote operational efficiencies, retire a term loan and fund working capital.

In a press statement, SBS said it was anticipating to achieve a double-digit growth in revenues and earnings this 2015.

Sytengco said SBS would put up additional warehouses in Marilao, Bulacan as well as in Quezon City while it would buy a new warehouse in Muntinlupa.

The company plans to focus on industries such as food and nutrition, agribusiness, water treatment, mining and pharma as well as household and personal care – sectors seen to ride on the favorable Philippine demographics.

SBS is one of the major chemical trader-distributor in the Philippine supplying 1,800 customers with over 3,000 chemical products sourced from more than 500 suppliers. Its logistics infrastructure includes a network of 15 warehouses located at five different sites in Metro Manila and Bulacan, providing for a combined floor space of over 46,000 square meters and a storage capacity exceeding 18,000 metric tons.

“The strong demand from investors stands as testament to the company’s track record built over 45 years of providing a full line of chemical and ingredient products. This also speaks of the level of confidence that investors have on the company to remain profitable in the coming years,” PSE chair Jose Pardo said in his welcome remarks during the listing ceremony.