DoubleDragon secures PSE approval for P6-billion follow-on offering

DOUBLEDRAGON PROPERTIES Corp. has secured approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to proceed with its follow- on offering worth up to P6 billion.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, the property developer said it has received the notice of approval for the issuance of up to 150 million common shares last Monday. The primary offer consists of up to 135 million common shares, with an over- allotment option of up to 15 million common shares.

The offer price of each share will range from P30 to P40, allowing the company to raise anywhere from P4.5 billion to P6 billion.

The company will use the proceeds from the share sale to develop 100,000 square meters ( sq. m.) of leasable industrial space across the country and to support its goal of having 5,000 rooms under its hotel portfolio by 2020.

DoubleDragon announced last year that it will be venturing into the industrial space leasing through newlyincorporated firm CentralHub Industrial Centers, Inc. It has so far identified two sites for industrial warehouses — Tarlac and Iloilo. Once fully developed, DoubleDragon will have 54,000 sq. m. of leasable industrial space.

The Tarlac and Iloilo facilities are part of the company’s planned eight industrial facilities, with two each in South Luzon, two in North Luzon, two in Visayas, and two in Mindanao.

By 2020, DoubleDragon looks to have 1.2 million sq.m. of leasable space under its portfolio. This will be achieved through the development of 100 CityMalls covering 700,000 sq. m., office spaces through the DD Meridian Park in Pasay City and Jollibee Tower in Pasig City spanning 100,000 sq.m., and 5,000 hotel rooms covering around 100,000 sq.m. Its hotel brands are Hotel 101 and Jinjiang Inn.

The company’s leasing unit is set to account for 90% of revenues by the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, rest of the proceeds from the follow- on offering will be used to fund potential acquisitions and land banking opportunities to further its 2020 plan.

DoubleDragon’s net income jumped 349.4% to P744.56 million in the first three months of 2018, following a 182% climb in revenues to P1.83 billion for the period.

The company not e d that the first quarter was the first time it breached the P500- million mark in terms of recurring revenues, which stood at P531.38 million, 173.7% higher year on year. It benefited from the operations of 29 CityMalls, which recorded an average occupancy rate of 95% during the period. By end- 2018, DoubleDragon looks to have 50 CityMalls.

Shares in DoubleDragon lost 90 centavos or 2.91% to close at P30 each at the PSE on Wednesday. —