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MerryMart Consumer Corp., a Philippine grocer that went public amid the pandemic, sold like hotcakes on its first trading day. Its shares surged by the daily limit of 50% even as the index posted its biggest loss in two months.
“The offer size is quite nimble and it has a good story to tell,” said Lex Azurin, analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc. in Manila. “It's into groceries and groceries have been the star performers this year” as the outbreak boosted demand for consumer essentials, he said.
MerryMart's 1.6 billion peso ($32 million) initial public offer size was easily digested by the market and left some investor demand unfilled. There's also speculation the stock will deliver upsized returns like DoubleDragon Properties Corp., which gained 3,400% over 26 months since it began trading in April 2014. Both companies are headed by Edgar ‘Injap' Sia.
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“Many investors are looking for a market play and there's confidence MerryMart will ride the momentum in the retail sector,” said Rachelle Cruz, analyst at AP Securities Inc. “This could be a repeat of DoubleDragon if Sia executes well and meet MerryMart's lofty targets.”
MerryMart, which sold shares at 1 peso a piece, closed at 1.50 pesos Monday. DoubleDragon, which will be the landlord for a tenth of its stores, added 0.3% after climbing as much as 11% earlier. Sia is chief executive officer at MerryMart and co-chairman at DoubleDragon.
MerryMart, which aims to have 1,200 stores by 2030 from about seven outlets, was twice oversubscribed by investors, according to Philippine Stock Exchange President Ramon Monzon.
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