Top Line shrugs off volatility; IPO raises P732M
After eight years, Cebu City has a new representative in the local bourse via fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp., the first company to brave the highly volatile stock market this year.
Lim family-led Top Line raised P732.62 million from its initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday, a day after global markets tumbled as a result of US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Despite this, Top Line fully exercised its overallotment option of 214.84 million secondary shares.
Listed under the ticker “TOP,” the company opened its first trading day at P0.30 per share before settling at its IPO price of P0.31 mid-day. This valued Top Line at P3.33 billion.
“While we acknowledge broader market challenges affecting investor sentiment both locally and globally, we are glad for our IPO’s oversubscription, receiving overwhelming support from our institutional and retail investors,” Top Line chair, president and CEO Erik Lim said during the listing ceremony.
“Rest assured that Top Line is committed to maximizing our investors’ shareholder value,” Lim added.
For his part, Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president Ramon Monzon said Top Line “can navigate these headwinds in the financial markets.”
“It knows firsthand about seizing opportunities during tough times since it started its subsidiary, Light Fuels Corp., five months into the pandemic in July 2020,” Monzon pointed out.
Around half of the proceeds raised from Top Line’s IPO will be used to construct 20 retail fuel stations under Light Fuels, which caters mainly to the niche two-wheel market.
Ten stations will be built within the second half of the year, while the rest will be built in 2026.
At the same time, a portion of the IPO proceeds will be set aside to buy a 5-million-liter fuel tanker, which will double Top Line’s storage capacity to 10 million liters.
The company initially planned to acquire fuel depots, but its trimmed IPO size, which was P3.2 billion originally, prompted Top Line to shift gears and focus instead on fuel imports and retail expansion in Central Visayas.
