Century Tuna maker’s share price soars in market debut

MANILA, Philippines – Shares of canned tuna manufacturer Century Pacific Food Inc. jumped as high as 16.7% in their market debut, owing to strong growth prospects.

Century Pacific opened at P15.50 per share and hit as high as P16.04 before closing at P15.20. The company’s closing price was up 10.5% from its initial public offering (IPO) price of P13.75.

Century Pacific is the country’s leading branded food company engaged in the processing, marketing and distribution of processed fish meat. It is also the leading company in the processed dairy products industry.

Among its top selling products are 555 for sardines, Century Tuna and 555 for canned tuna, Argentina and Swift for canned meat, and Angel and Birch Tree for canned and powdered milk.

In an interview following the company’s listing Tuesday, May 6, Century Pacific president Christopher Po said the company was “flattered” by how the market responded to its maiden offer, which was 3.5 times oversubscribed.

Po said the company plans to use the P3.2-billion IPO proceeds to grow its revenues to mid to high teens, and its net income to P1.5 billion this year.

He said revenues would primarily come from the canned and processed fish business as well as canned meat business.

Meanwhile, Po said prices of key raw material have gone down from previous year’s level, which would lead to higher gross profit margin for the company this year.

Century Pacific vice chairman Ricardo Po Jr. said they were looking forward to the planned ASEAN market integration by 2015. He said they would bring their core branded products overseas and expand their partnership with global retailers in the US and Europe.

The company produces canned, pouched and frozen tuna products for export to major markets including the US, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Century Pacific was the second company to conduct a public offering this year after DoubleDragon Properties Inc. – Rappler.com