In a press briefing, the energy chief said "I feel that the end of this year will be an ideal time for Shell." Shell, a member of the Royal Dutch Shell group and one of the major players in the local upstream and downstream oil industry, is mandated to offer at least 10 percent of it equity to the public through an IPO under the Oil Deregulation Law of 1998.
Perez believes that the improving financial performance of Shell may warrant an offering of its shares within the year. "If the earnings recovery were to continue in 2002, it will allow Shell to rethink of its plans to offer shares to the public," Perez said.
He said based on the financial figures that Shell is reporting, an IPO in the latter part of the year could be possible. "In my personal opinion, an IPO by the end of this year, or no later than last quarter this year would be feasible," Perez said.
Shell is projecting to sustain or even surpass its estimated net earnings of P2.5 billion in 2001. As of end-September 2001, Shell already registered a significant profit of P1.9 billion. The projected P2.5-billion earnings to 2001 is a complete turnaround from P1-billion net loss in 2000. The last time that the oil firm registered such huge earnings was in 1996, a year before the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
But the energy secretary admitted that he has to talk with the new country chairman of Shell, Ely Santiago, who replaced Oscar Reyes who retired last month.
Perez also said he has yet to meet with the new officials of Caltex Philippines Inc., another oil firm which is expected to offer its shares to the public. "I have no comment on Caltex," he said.
Though the two oil companies have yet to determine the actual date of their offerings, they have already indicated readiness to conduct the IPO anytime once the stock market showed signs of improvement.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is regularly monitoring the performance of the local stock exchange, and financial capabilities of the two oil firms pursuant to the implementing rules and regulations (IRRs) of the Oil Deregulation Law.
Shell and Caltex have already selected their financial advisors to handle their IPO. Shell appointed Salomon Smith Barneys while Caltex tapped JP Morgan Chase Manhattan as advisors for the offering.