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LISTED ATR KimEng (ATRKE) Financial Corp. successfully raised P623 million from its rights offering but its share price ended lower at the close of trading at the stock exchange yesterday.
Its shares, including the 230,825,742 sold via the stock rights, were valued at P2.10 each, 10 centavos lower from the opening price of P2.20 each. The offer shares were sold at P2.70 a piece, its book value at the end of December 2007. The shares, which carry a par value of P1 each, were offered at a ratio of one share for every three shares owned.
“The additional funding raised will be used to finance the expansion of the company’s three business segments, namely, the capital markets, insurance and lending and real estate,” said ATRKE president Manuel Tordesillas in an interview at the sidelines of the listing ceremony on Thursday.
After the rights offer, Kim Eng Holdings Ltd. of Singapore further increased its stake in ATRKE from 38 percent to 42 percent, while ATR Holdings Inc.’s equity rose to 44 percent. The public owns the remaining 14 percent.
Of the total proceeds, Tordesillas said P400 million will be for the expansion of existing business lines; P80 million to P120 million for debt retirement and up to P120 million for working capital to support the increase in volume of business. The company, for instance, has plans of adding more offices for its brokerage operations by tapping other areas including key cities in the provinces.
ATRKE is a diversified financial services company, specializing in capital markets, insurance, real estate and other investments. Its wholly owned subsidiary, ATR KimEng Capital Partners Inc., is the country’s largest nonbank-related investment house, while its stockbrokerage arm ATR KimEng Securities Inc., is the leading Philippine-owned securities company. The group is principally involved in corporate finance and advisory services (equity initial public offerings and secondary offers, bond underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, debt restructuring); stockbroking and equity research; life and general insurance underwriting and distribution, and insurance broking; asset management (mutual funds and trust fund management); foreign exchange and fixed income broking; and real estate investments.
At the end of the nine-month period, revenues for the capital markets segment reached P456 million, mostly coming from brokerage unit ATR KimEng Securities and ATR KimEng Capital Partners and the Mutual Fund Management Co. of the Philippines.
The insurance business recorded revenues of P794 million while the real estate segment, through ATR KimEng Land, posted gross revenues of P73 million.
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