MerryMart Consumer Corp., led by young tycoon Edgar Sia II, impressed everyone on the first day of trading in the Philippine Stock Market (PSE), debut on Monday, June 15, 2020, as investors welcomed the new grocer in town. The company was the first to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Merry Mart Stock ($MM) gained 50 centavos – hitting the maximum daily price ceiling of 50 percent or P1.50. During the listing ceremony Chairman Edgar “Injap” Sia said, “This IPO of MerryMart, done during this global pandemic is far better than any kind of survey because this is a real thermometer of the underlying state of our economy. It shows that our economy is alive and ready to begin bouncing back,”.
“And this IPO will not be possible if our government just did nothing. Our economy is tiding through the rough waters well, and that is possible because of the well thought out and decisive decisions that were put in. Definitely a lot of thought, work, and intervention, unseen by most of us, was done to get our economy to survive,” said Sia, hailing efforts led by the economic team which includes Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez who is present during the listing ceremony.
“Because actually, during a highly challenging period like where we are now, the large established players’ huge size and heaviness, suddenly becomes a disadvantage, and natural to a major crisis comes the repositioning of elements, such as, a major change of customer behavior, which suddenly, the pile of money alone, can not solve,” Sia said.
“In fact, it is during periods like this, during unprecedented times like this, when the mountains of revenue or income that a large company has generated in the past 10, 20, or 30 years will have not much use or value. What is most important in times like these is to have a relevant and well-innovated business model, and the company and the team have to be quick and nimble enough, to adjust and calibrate simultaneously, as the dust of the crisis settles and emerge successfully, stronger than ever, and move forward to the future in an even better market position,” he added.
The benchmark PSEi tumbled 312.42 points or -4.82% to 6,163.82 at the closing bell. The broader All Shares fell 152.33 points or -4.01% to 3,646.83. Stocks are turning wobbly as investors re-evaluate their expectations for economic growth, which many skeptics have been saying were overly optimistic.
More than 1.006-bil shares valued at P7.760-bil, changed hands. Market breadth was negative as decliners outnumbered advancers, 178 to 39 and 29 issues were unchanged.
-Stockbytes PH, June 15, 2020
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