CEBU CITY — Fuel retailer Top Line Business Development Corp. is aiming to have 50 operational fuel stations by the end of the year under unit Light Fuels Corp., its top executive said on Friday.
Top Line Chairman, President and CEO Eugene Erik Lim told stockholders on Friday that an “add-on of 38 more stations” to an existing or in-pipeline 12 would give the company “at least 50 stations in the Visayas” where it operates.
The stockholders’ meeting was the first since Top Line went public in April.
The company had targeted building 30 stations by 2026 based on its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus.
“Right now, three months later, after the listing, we’re now looking at 50 stations in operation within the year 2025,” Lim said.
Earlier this month, Top Line acquired 38 stations from Total Oil & Gas Resources Inc. and Ballston Metro Corp., broadening its presence in Cebu, Leyte, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
The deal, worth P180 million and funded through bank financing and internal funds, also included a 2-million-liter depot in San Jose, Negros Oriental, and 15 tanker trucks that are expected to boost Top Line’s logistics capacity.
In a disclosure on Friday, Top Line said that it had also acquired a gasoline station from Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. for P8.5 million.
Top Line Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Brigitte Carmel Lim told reporters that “in terms of expansion, in the Light Fuel stations… initially our prospectus stated that [we were going to build] 20 stations.”
“[N]ow with the acquisition opportunity and expansion, it’s fast-tracked, she added.
“All these stations are already operational; we actually cut the time by 6 to 9 months.”
Of the P624.6 million in net proceeds from the IPO, Top Line has already disbursed P422.06 million as of end-June.
The company has reallocated the proceeds with P400 million going to Light Fuels’ retail network expansion, which includes the construction and renovation of the newly acquired assets.
Meanwhile, P214.6 million was allocated to purchase fuel stock, and the remaining P10 million will be used for general corporate purposes.
The P400 million forms part of a broader P925-million retail network expansion plan covering the acquisition, construction and renovation of stations. The rest of the money will come from a mix of bank financing and internally generated funds.
“We are deploying capital with discipline and agility, enabling us to seize opportunities that accelerate our road map while maintaining financial management,” Erik Lim said.
Top Line reported an attributable net income of P37.86 million for the first quarter, up 37.7 percent on growth in fuel sales.
The company’s shares fell by 9 centavos, or 7.14 percent, to P1.17 apiece on Friday amid a 0.13-percent gain for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.
Be the first to comment