OCEANAGOLD Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) announced on Wednesday the final offer price for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at P13.33 per share, falling below the upper estimate of P17.28 per share projected by its parent company OceanaGold Corp.
The IPO will consist of 456 million secondary common shares, with the company setting May 13 as the listing date for its IPO.
OGPI operates the Didipio gold and copper mine in Nueva Vizcaya.
The Philippine Stock Exchange recently approved OGPI’s listing of 2.8 billion shares for its P7.9-billion IPO under the bourse’s main board.
BDO Capital & Investment Corp. President Eduardo V. Francisco stated during SM Investments Corp.’s annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday that OGPI’s final IPO price of P13.33 per share translates to a dividend yield of 13% over the next five years, based on a gold price of $1,855 per ounce.
For his part, AP Securities, Inc. Research Head Alfred Benjamin R. Garcia said in a Viber message that OGPI’s IPO will be attractive to a certain class of investors.
“It’s the first mining IPO in a while and OGPI produces gold and copper, both of which are very hot at the moment. Although it seems less attractive when you consider that the offer is all secondary shares, which means that none of the proceeds will go towards growing the company and will instead line the pockets of the selling shareholder,” he said.
“At the max offer price of P17.28, it was priced at 26.2x fiscal year 2023 price to earnings ratio. I think the current state of the market had a big role in the reduction of the share price. However, at P13.33, it’s still priced at 20.2x fiscal year 2023 price to earnings,” he added.
China Bank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said separately that the IPO’s price dropped due to market conditions.
“They had to significantly discount the IPO price because of challenging equity market conditions. It is very likely that investors demanded a lower price to boost potential returns. The final offer price translates to an estimated dividend yield of around 12.2%, which is very attractive,” he said.
The IPO’s proceeds will go to OceanaGold Philippines Holdings, Inc. (OGPHI), a wholly owned unit of the Australian-Canadian miner.
The Securities and Exchange Commission gave the green light for the IPO on March 12.
OceanaGold selected BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as the domestic underwriter and bookrunner for the offer, while CLSA Ltd. will be the international underwriter.
Last month, OceanaGold Chief Executive Officer Gerard M. Bond said the company was searching for another mining site in the Philippines.
He also said that OceanaGold was looking to spend $5 million to $7 million on drilling and exploration this year.
OceanaGold aims to produce 120,000 to 135,000 ounces of gold and 12,000 to 14,000 tons of copper at its Didipio mine this year. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave