Image via WikipediaMANILA, Philippines – Budget airline Cebu Air Inc. jumped as much as 6.8 percent on its debut Tuesday, as the country's largest public offering rode on the back of a broader market that hit a fresh record high.
The airline, a unit of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Corp and the second biggest Asian budget carrier by market value, raised $611 million in its IPO including a greenshoe option, making it a record amount in dollar terms for a Philippine listing.
Cebu Air's debut takes place amid a boom in IPOs in Asia as well as strong foreign demand for high-yielding emerging markets such as the Philippines.
Upbeat sentiment following presidential elections in May have helped lift the index about 40 percent this year and it is the second best performer in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.
This backdrop bodes well for upcoming listings in the Philippines, analysts said. Philippine miner Nickel Asia plans to raise $162 million in an IPO next month.
''Having launched successfully, the ones apprehensive on the sidelines are now emboldened to come in,'' said Alejandro Yu, president of R.S. Lim and Company, a local stock brokerage.
Cebu Air's shares opened at 132 pesos after a ceremony that included flight attendants dancing the flight safety routine to a Lady Gaga pop song on the stock exchange trading floor, peppered with tube balloons carrying the airline's yellow orange colours. The safety routine dance was a big hit on YouTube earlier this month.
The stock rose as high as 133.5 pesos, before closing at 133 pesos. The airline had sold about 215 million shares at its IPO at 125 pesos each, Cebu Air's parent said late on Monday.
At Tuesday's close, Cebu Pacific was valued at nearly 97 billion pesos or $2.2 billion, larger than rival Tiger Airways at about $723 million but smaller than Malaysia's AirAsia, valued at about $2.3 billion.
Cebu Air CEO and President Lance Gokongwei said he expects the company's international business to overtake its domestic operations in four to five years as it seeks to increase its international capacity by 25 percent yearly via new foreign routes and flight frequencies.
No comments:
Post a Comment