LISTED property developer Kepwealth Property Phils., Inc. is looking to acquire new properties in the near term as the company is aiming to bolster its portfolio.
“The board projects that we will most likely look into acquiring new properties sometime in the second semester of 2023 or first term of 2024,” Kepwealth said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.
The company’s disclosure comes as it bought two contiguous floors and 18 parking spaces at One San Miguel Ave. in Pasig City in line with its plan to acquire more leasable office spaces.
The acquisition was partly funded by proceeds from the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2019 when it sold 67.03 million common shares and generated P384.8 million in gross proceeds.
Kepwealth updated the Philippine Stock Exchange on the use of proceeds as of end-September from its IPO.
“In the meantime, all unused [IPO] proceeds were invested in low-risk investment instruments with the highest returns as possible,” Kepwealth said.
The company previously said that the proceeds would be spent to acquire about 3,500 square meters of leasable office space. About P245 million will be used for office spaces in Quezon City, Pasig City, and Makati City, while the rest will be used for office spaces in Davao.
According to Kepwealth, it is continuing to focus its business development effort, which was tapered by the current business environment.
“After reassessing our plans and timeline with regard to the use of the IPO proceeds for the acquisition of additional units that we can lease out, we believe that the most prudent stance would be to continue to proceed cautiously as we evaluate the available properties and weight that against the demand for office spaces,” the company said.
“Originally, the company has projected to complete the acquisition until the end of the second quarter of 2020. As has been our stance since the beginning of the pandemic, we still believe that our shareholders interest would be best served by being conservative in our capital investments,” it added.
Shares of Kepwealth at the local bourse rose five centavos or 3.03% to P1.70 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave