Mynt Inc., the parent company of fintech behemoth GCash, may attract at least P5 billion in investments from its more than 90 million users once it kicks off its initial public offering (IPO).
Philippine Stock Exchange President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said acquiring shares from Mynt would be easy for GCash account holders as investing is just a few clicks away via its application.
‘The investment in the Gcash IPO, we hope to get to encourage more stock trading among retail investors,’ Monzon said during the PSE STAR investor day.
For foreign participation in the local market, Monzon said the bourse is making sure that its platforms are updated with the latest features to provide more products with them.
‘I think the key component or ingredient for their investing decision, what really is the factor behind their decision to invest in a market or in a country is really confidence. So we really have to build up their confidence not only in the market but the whole Philippine economy.’
The PSE is expecting only two IPOs this year-the P92.3-billion capital raising for Mynt and PLDT Inc.’s Vitro REIT (real estate investment trust) valued at around P24.2 billion.
The bourse is also expecting one listing by way of introduction, that of PNB holdings Corp. scheduled for September.
‘Companies will continue to need capital. So, they will continue to try to raise capital in the equities market. Sometimes these efforts are postponed because of the volatility of the market. But inevitably, they will have to come back and raise capital from the equities market. They cannot be financing their operations purely on that,’ Monzon said.
He said there is also a pending application from a company that has no listed common shares on the PSE to list some P9 billion in preferred shares. This has never been done before, according to the PSE.
For next year, the PSE is expecting the merged tollway firms of San Miguel Corp. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. to conduct a maiden share sale, which could be another ‘blockbuster’ offering.
‘So, while we cannot control external factors like the geopolitical problems or even domestic problems like confidence or lower GDP growth rates for the first two quarters, as an exchange, I think our mission is to make sure that our market remains up to date in its technology,’ Monzon said.
He said PSE also continues to find ways to make it easier for companies to list and introduce more products that can attract more retail investors. ‘And basically, again, make sure that we have a deeper capital market.’