Residential developer Haus Talk, Inc. (HTI) marked its successful debut at the Philippine Stock Exchange’s Small, Medium and Emerging (SME) Board with its share price closing 10 centavos or 6.67 percent higher at P1.60 apiece.
During its initial trading day, HTI shares ranged from a low of P1.45 per share to a high of P1.73 per share. It’s initial public offering price was P1.50 per share.
The first IPO for the PSE this year, HTI raised P750 million from its offering of 500 million common shares. Net proceeds from the offering will be used mainly for land acquisition (P462.01 million), project development (P216.58 million), and for general working capital (P38.71 million).
"The IPO will allow us to expand our coverage and establish our brand in areas where the opportunities in the mid-market segment lie," said HTI President Rachel Madlambayan.
After the IPO, HTI's growth strategy will continue to focus on offering high-quality and affordable house-and-lot properties, said HTI Chairman and Vice President of Business Development Terence Madlambayan.
"With our IPO, we plan on continuing this on a much larger scale to help more families achieve their dream of having their own home,” he added.
“While this listing ceremony represents the end of Haus Talk’s initial public offering of its shares and the start of its corporate phase as a listed company, I also view it as the company’s graduation from the handholding program of the Philippine Stock Exchange,” said PSE President Ramon S. Monzon.
He noted that, “This program is a free service offered by the Exchange under which we conduct one-on-one sessions with potential listing applicant companies to help them navigate their listing roadmap and connect with IPO advisers (financial, legal, and accounting) who can help bring their IPO journey to fruition.”
“There are more than 30 companies registered under this program and we look forward to getting more of them listed this year and next,” Monzon disclosed.
He noted that, “The Haus Talk brand may be mostly known to customers in areas where they have several completed and ongoing residential developments like Antipolo, Laguna and Metro Manila. But with this IPO, the company’s projects and prospects have likewise reached Filipinos outside its project locations.”
“In fact, the Local Small Investors that invested in Haus Talk through PSE EASy come from over 30 provinces, with some even based in countries across Asia, the Middle East and Europe,” Monzon said.
He also pointed out that the HTI IPO “clearly demonstrates that a family-owned and managed SME can tap the equities market for its fund-raising needs. I am aware that most families are apprehensive about going public because of the requirements imposed on listed firms but companies like Haus Talk prove that such requirements are not difficult or impossible to meet.”
HTI was established in the 1980s in Pampanga by the Madlambayan family, who still fully manage the business to this day. Established in the 1980s, Haus Talk was the product of the family's pivot from a completely different industry: sugar.
After the blow to their sugar businesss, the Madlambayan leveraged their property in Pampanga and the family raised livestock and tried their hand in farming (and even opened a pawnshop), before finally deciding to venture into real estate by dividing their one-hectare property and selling lots to other families in the province.
This marked the beginnings of Haus Talk, as well as the Madlambayans' expansion outside of Pampanga.
Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez cited Haus Talk for not just being the first SME to list in the stock market this year, but for doing so in the midst of a pandemic.
“From small beginnings as a family enterprise, Haus Talk has emerged to become one of our country’s leading housing developers, serving thousands of families in the working class and middle-class housing markets,” said Lopez at the listing ceremony.
Lopez further urged Haus Talk to expand its niche housing projects stressing the government’s aggressive Build, Build, Build infrastructure development program would certainly support access to many of its projects.
“May this IPO serve to inspire more MSMEs to aspire for scaling up like Haus Talk. May this also serve to amplify the signal that our capital market is healthy and ready to support the growth of our MSMEs,” he said.
Finally, he commended the PSE for its hand-holding program, stressing this will surely inspire other promising SMEs to take the “Road to IPO” toward expansion, growth, and sustained impact on clients, employees, and other stakeholders.