By Jochebed B. Gonzales, Senior Researcher
STRONG PROSPECTS of supplying rock requirements for the government’s Manila Bay reclamation projects made ATN Holdings, Inc. (ATN) one of the hottest stocks among traders last week.
ATN was the sixth most traded stock in terms of value turnover, totaling P1.029 billion from Aug. 6 to 10, based on data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
Shares of ATN closed at P1.41 apiece on Friday, up 16.5% week on week. Year-to-date, its share price gained by a whopping 243.9%.
“It’s been up so much for the past two weeks. For now, it’s just speculation, we’re waiting for a reasonable news when ATN will actually deliver,” said Aristotle D. Reyes, Jr., equities trader at UPCC Securities Corp.
“People speculated that this will be a very good addition to the company given the Duterte administration’s main agenda is the Build, Build, Build program.”
“Since ATN has a quarry in Rizal, it will supply rocks for the government’s Build, Build, Build projects,” A&A Securities, Inc. analyst Jeng T. Calma said in agreement. “It’s a plus factor for ATN and will contribute to the company’s income.”
ATN said it will sell 3.5 million tons of armor rock roughly worth P4 billion for use in land reclamation projects in Manila Bay next year. The firm also noted that two reclamation projects in Manila — the 600-hectare project of SM Investments and the 400-hectare project in Baseco area of Manila — will require some 68 million tons of armor rock.
While it has not yet disclosed the buyer of the said rock inventory, UPCC Securities’ Mr. Reyes noted the likelihood of a purchasing agreement to be announced soon.
“[ATN] will not mine something if they don’t have a buyer,” he said.
For the fiscal year ended March 2018, ATN’s consolidated revenues ballooned 17 times to P465.86 million from P27.41 million a year earlier mostly due to a P445.87-million fair value gain on investment properties. It netted P308.28 million, 99 times its P3.10-million net profit from a year ago.
ATN is a holding company engaged in real estate, land development, energy, and health care services. Its subsidiaries include Advance Home Concept Development Corp., Palladian Land Development, Inc., ATN Philippines Solar Energy Group, Inc., and Managed Care Phil., Inc.
