Excitement builds for Landmasters’ public offering

THE Cebu investors’ roadshow of Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) last Thursday was a well-received one, with over a hundred bankers, local business owners, and real estate brokers present.

Potential investors also took the opportunity to hear about the homegrown firm’s prospects and plans ahead of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) slated on June 2.

Seated at the second table from the center stage in a function room in Cebu City Marriott Hotel, where the roadshow took place, Ronald Pacio and his wife Arlene listened as CLI executives gave their best shot in introducing the company’s profile, projects, financial health, and plans.

Convinced by the company’s fundamentals and its potential, Pacio, 49, said he will invest in CLI, using a portion of his early retirement funds. Pacio worked for 25 years in a multinational oil company, where, prior to his retirement, he was assigned to Dubai for two years.

“My wife and I are fond of fairytale stories, those stories of underdogs and small companies who made it big, and I think Cebu Landmasters is something to be proud of,” the retired chemical engineer said. “My family will support its IPO.”

Strategic growth

During the event, CLI founder Jose Soberano III introduced his 13-year-old company, which traces its first housing project to Balamban on Cebu’s western side. Moving forward, CBRE Philippines has identified Landmasters as the leading local real estate developer in Metro Cebu. Since its inception, CLI has built a total of 28 projects, including completed, ongoing, and newly-launched projects all over the Visayas and Mindanao.

The company’s yearly net income has grown by 150 percent, on average, in the last five years. In 2012, the company reported gross sales of P220 million, and this has ballooned to P2.2 billion in 2016, said CLI chief financial officer Stephen Tan.

The company has organized a network-driven sales support team of 5,000 brokers and agents. Soberano said the company doesn’t have an in-house sales support team, so partner-brokers and agents benefit most.

In addition, CLI has also adopted a “landbank lite” strategy or the process of acquiring properties and developing them in the soonest time possible. Executives also noted its ability to engage in joint ventures, which enabled them to expand the company’s footprint.

“CLI, in its humble ways, is aiming to become the leading homegrown developer in VisMin where there is still so much potential for growth and where more infrastructure is coming,” said CLI senior vice president Franco Soberano.

Before the presentation, prospective investor Pacio said he did not know much about Cebu Landmasters.

“I may have seen some advertisements of them in the past, but with so many condominiums and houses being built, I don’t know anymore who is who,” he said.

Instead, he learned about CLI in an online forum for new investors to the stock market. Pacio, out of curiosity, studied stock trading by himself. He also heard that investing in the stock market is a good opportunity to grow one’s money, except that it is a high-risk investment. With CLI as an opportunity to witness a roadshow, the man from Mandaue City joined the event.

Persuasion

From its IPO, CLI is seeking to raise P3.8 billion to finance its land acquisition deals. It will offer 505 million common shares, with an overallotment option of 75 million shares at a price per share of P5. About 430 million shares will comprise primary shares, while 75 million will consist of secondary shares.

The offer period is from May 19 to 26, 2017. During this period, retail investors can buy at least 1,000 shares or equivalent to an investment of P5,000, to as much as P50,000.

One can avail of the offer in CLI’s corporate office in Park Centrale in Cebu IT Park, and in BDO branches in Mandaue and Ayala.

Yesterday, CLI and its issue manager BDO Capital and Investments Corp. with its joint underwriter BPI Capital held the last investor roadshow in Davao City. Earlier this week, company officials were in Metro Manila to pitch the company to investors.

For the Pacio family, CLI’s debut in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is one that Cebuano investors should support.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph