MANILA, Philippines ? The Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. has fully settled its 22-billion yen loan (roughly P12 billion), allowing the company to move closer to its goal of overhauling the currency mix of its loan portfolio.

With this settlement, EDC?s yen-denominated loans would now account for only 13 percent of the company?s total obligations, down from 87 percent in 2008 and 40 percent in 2009.

?Our investors have singled out the predominance of yen-denominated debt as a major concern because of our vulnerability to (foreign exchange) losses,? said EDC president and COO Richard Tantoco.

?Since taking over in 2008, we have fully addressed this concern with the successful re-denomination of our debt stock to one that is now predominantly peso, or 66 percent of total loans. From this point on, our income statement will be more predictable as it is no longer subject to large swings in the amount of unrealized forex losses or gains,? Tantoco said.

He said the Miyazawa II loan worth 22 billion yen would be paid with the funds raised by the company through a bond sale in 2009.

The Miyazawa II loan was among the so-called legacy loans, which the EDC had inherited during the days when the geothermal company was still owned by state-run Philippine National Oil Co.

It was used to fund the investment and working capital requirements of then PNOC-EDC?S operating projects, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.

Since 2009, EDC, the country?s biggest producer of geothermal energy, has been raising funds to settle maturing obligations. The company had then conducted a number of fund-raising activities, which included the issuance of retail corporate notes and bonds.