Ayala-led IMI aims for billion dollar revenues

MANILA, Philippines - Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI), the electronics manufacturing services unit of the Ayala conglomerate, is closer to its goal of being the first Filipino-owned electronics manufacturer to earn billions of dollars in revenues.

After closing 2013 with revenues of $745 million, IMI chief finance officer Jerome Tan  said that the company has already raked in revenues of $506 million in the first seven months of the year.

Not to be outdone, net income of the company already stood at $16.7 million in the first seven months of 2014, 50 percent more than the $10.5 million in earnings booked in the entire 2013.

The Ayala-led firm earlier said it targets to reach the $1-billion revenue mark in 2016 by serving more energy, mobility, power, healthcare, industrial and security firms.

“We will do much better than last year, that is our expectation. So, hopefully, in a couple of years, barring any geopolitical issues, IMI can be the first Philippine-based electronics manufacturing company to achieve billion dollars in revenues. So we’re on track, and I think we should be able to achieve this in the next couple of years,” IMI president and CEO Arthur Tan told The STAR.

IMI last year managed to post growth despite the decline in worldwide electronic equipment production and the global electronics outsourcing industry.

IMI currently has manufacturing facilities in the Philippines, China, Singapore, US, Mexico, Bulgaria and Czech Republic.

For next year, the company has earmarked about $22-to- $25 million for capital expenditures. Last year’s capex was $22 million.

 “When we put our strategies, we develop it across the world so the plan is to expand not only in the Philippines but also in other parts. It’s to be able to create more value-adding and may give us the higher margin business,” Arthur Tan said.

Part of the capex will be financed by proceeds from the issuance of up to 300 million shares eyed this year.

IMI’s board last September 25 already approved the issuance and public offering of up to 215 common shares with an over-allotment option for 85 million shares at an offer price of P10 each.

The Ayala-led firm plans to raise up to P3 billion from its proposed sale of common shares through the follow-on offering.

Jerome Tan said IMI would increase the company’s public float to about 25 percent if all the shares are taken up by the public.

 “Proceeds will be for capex and business expansion, working capital and then some refinancing. But bulk is capex and the business expansion,” he said.

IMI was supposed to have made a public offering a year after its listing by way of introduction at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in 2010. The follow-on offering was a post-listing requirement of the PSE.

Since listing by way of introduction, IMI has been penalized for failing to sell shares beyond the leeway.

 “One of the reasons for the delay is the need. We really didn’t need to capitalize at that time. Second was that the market was also very weak so our shareholders didn’t feel like they wanted to be diluted to the level where the actual enterprise value of the company was below the market,” Athur Tan said.

 “We want to do it this year, our preference is this year. I think the timing is good right now and we’ve also shown what the company is capable as far as performance is concerned on an investor perspective and right now we have a very solid pipeline of customers and projects and we feel we’ll be able to continue this track that we started,” he added.