Eagle Cement debuts on PSE, eyes 25% market share by 2020

Eagle Cement Corp. aims to expand its market share to as much as 25 percent in the next three years, its chairman said Monday as the company debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Under the ticker symbol EAGLE, its shares opened P16.00 apiece, up P1.00 or 6.25 percent from an initial public offering (IPO) price of P15 per share.

"We hope to become at least 25 percent of the market by two to three years ... because of our new factories in Bulacan, because of our new factories in Cebu to supply Visayas and Mindanao," Ramon S. Ang, chairman of Eagle Cement, told reporters in a briefing in Makati City.

Currently, Eagle Cement has a market share of 14 percent.

"I think by next year, Eagle should be number one in terms of capacity ... With seven million tons next year, it will be number one right away," he added.

Eagle is the second company to go public this year, after Wilcon Depot Inc. which listed on the PSE in March. — VDS, GMA News