CEBU-BASED fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. is looking to raise as much as P3.16 billion through an initial public offering (IPO).
The company in a statement said it has submitted the documentation for its share sale plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission and The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc..
Top Line will sell to the public an initial 3.68 billion primary shares and another 368.31 million secondary shares to cover the greenshoe option, at an offer price of up to P0.78 per share.
The company said it eyes to have its IPO held between October 28 and November 5.
The company is currently in the mid of constructing five Light Fuels service stations and two Light Fuels Express stations in Metro Cebu and Cebu Province.
Regulatory filings showed the company will use the P2.87 billion proceeds from the primary shares sale to construct fuel depots, acquire tankers, trucks, construct service stations as well as for working capital.
The company said the planned fuel depots in Mactan and Bohol, worth P980 million, will be equipped with terminal for receiving and deliveries and will have a combined storage capacity of 30 million liters. The main storage in Mactan will have a capacity of 25 million liters and will serve as the receiving facility for the imported supplies while the Bohol storage will serve as a satellite depot that will ensure the availability of stocks in the surrounding region.
The construction is eyed for next year in time for its operation by mid-2026.
Top Line is looking to build 10 Light Fuels services stations using the proceeds worth P65 million, that will start construction next year and eyed to be operational between 2025 and 2026.
The company is also looking to acquire two units of compartmentalized fuel tankers with a capacity of 5 million liters for each vessel as well as 40 units of tank trucks with rated capacities of at least 20,000 liters. The acquisition of tank trucks will take place between 2024 and 2025, it said.
“With our accelerating growth in recent years in the fuel sector of the Visayas region, we are poised for the company’s historic milestone of listing on the PSE,” said Erik Lim, Top Line chairman.
Lim said Top Line closed the first half of the year with profit of P60.6 million, a 190 percent uptick from last year’s P20.8 million.
Revenues grew 15 percent from P1.56 billion from P1.36 billion.
“Earnings from our commercial fuel trading boosted our sales in the first half with robust fuel demand in Metro Cebu and Cebu Province,” Lim said.
Top Line’s commercial fuel trading operations caters to customers with requirements of at least 4,000 liters per order in transportation, construction, shipping, and mining, among others.
In terms of retail fuel under the Light Fuels brand, two new Light Fuels service stations are expected to open this month which will bring the Company’s total operating retail fuel stations to three.
“We are still set to meet our target of 10 operating service stations this year. Our expansion in the retail fuel market will further support our vertical integration plans, supporting Top Line’s continued growth,” Lim said.
Top Line initially focused on real estate development and leasing ventures before it ventured into the fuels business in 2017.
