Investors scrambled to grab a piece of Philippine technology company Xurpas, whose shares skyrocketed in its market debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange today.
Xurpas, which develops mobile products and services, surged 50 percent – the daily ceiling – to close at PHP5.95 per share in its first trading day. The company offered shares at PHP3.97 apiece. That makes its initial public offering (IPO) one of the most successful in the Philippines to date. The company raised PHP1.36 billion (US$30.4 million).
Ricky Galang, president of underwriter SB Capital Investment Corporation, attributes the IPO’s success to the people behind the company. “They built a company that was able to go straight to IPO without previously tapping external equity or debt. They have a great business model, are very profitable, and their growth rate is spectacular. The company hit all the right metrics that resound with investors.”
See: Straight to IPO: How Philippine tech company Xurpas grew without venture capital
Founded by Filipino entrepreneurs Nix Nolledo, Raymond Racaza, and Fernando Garcia, Xurpas develops an array of products such as casual games for mobile users in the Philippines. It also creates proprietary platforms for the largest Philippine mobile operators – Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular.
The company claims to be the first mobile technology IPO in the emerging Southeast Asian markets and the offer comes shortly after the IPOs of other Asian tech companies such as China’s Alibaba and Tuniu in the US.
“Today’s listing is not just an achievement for Xurpas, but also a milestone for the local consumer technology industry and technopreneurs who want to compete in the regional and global markets,” says Nolledo.
Xurpas plans to use the IPO proceeds for regional expansion.
It is looking at Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand as some of the markets it plans to enter immediately. The company wants to expand through partnering with the telcos in these markets or acquiring entities that have billing relationship with telcos.
Nolledo says they’re now in talks with at least 10 entities for possible deals.
Outside its core markets, he says they want to “blanket” the whole of Southeast Asia “as quickly as we can.”
“There are 680 million sim cards in circulation as of January this year in Southeast Asia. Every sim represents an identity and every identity is a potential customer. We want to reach all of them.”
From 2011 to 2013, Xurpas posted revenue growth of 75 percent on average per year, and margins of 42 percent average earnings before income tax.
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