Stable interest rate key to more IPOS at PSE – Deloitte

While there is currently a low turnout of initial public offerings at the Philippine Stock Exchange this year, more firms are seen to go public when interest rates have stabilized again.

IPOS in the local stock market declined by 77 percent in terms of proceeds raised at $81 million in 2023 with just three IPO listings versus last year’s eight which raised $352 million, Deloitte reported on Thursday, Nov. 16.

The total IPO market capitalization also dropped by 78 percent from last year’s almost $1.3 billion to just $287 million.

This year, three companies were listed at Philippine Stock Exchange's small, medium, and emerging (SME) board as well as the main board.

These include Alternergy Holdings Corporation with a $30 million IPO raised amount and $93 million market cap; Upson International Corp. with a $30 million IPO raised amount and $135 million market cap; and Repower Energy Development Corporation with a $21 million raised amount and $59 million market cap.

Deloitte's analysis of Southeast Asia's IPO capital market indicates a slowdown in activity this year due to economic conditions like inflation and rising interest rates.

During a virtual press conference on Thursday, Deloitte Southeast Asia Disruptive Events Advisory Leader Tay Hwee Ling said that the Philippine market will experience a return to IPO listing when interest rates stabilize and settle.

“Moving forward, I would believe that, from a Philippine market perspective... when the interest rate gets a bit more stabilized and settled in the market, [more IPO] listing would have come back,” she said.

In the Southeast Asian landscape, the IPO capital markets saw a healthy count of 153 IPOS but the total raised amount is seen as the lowest in eight years.

To date, companies in Southeast Asia raised approximately $5.5 billion from this year’s IPO listings, reflecting a 29 percent decline from full year 2022’s $7.6 billion from 163 IPOS.

Indonesia tops the list for IPO amount raised being the only country in the region which recorded a high growth of 52 percent, while five countries including Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, saw a drop in the number of IPOS.

BILATERAL MEETING OF PH-US TRADE MINISTERS HIGHLIGHTS STRONGER ECONOMIC COLLABORATION – DTI Secretary Fred Pascual and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Marie Raimondo shake hands during the bilateral meeting on Nov. 13, 2023 at Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco, California. In particular, the Philippine DTI chief shares the country’s interest in forging partnerships to boost the innovation economy through a worker-centered, sustainability-driven, fair, and transparent approach.