Aboitiz plan to issue P30B worth of bonds approved

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light for Aboitiz Power Corp.’s plan to issue P30-billion worth of fixed-rate corporate retail bonds.

AboitizPower said in a statement that the bonds, which will be registered under the shelf registration program of the SEC, would be issued in tranches.

“The first tranche is equivalent to P2 billion, with an oversubscription option of another P1 billion,” the company said.

Last March, AboitizPower said the first tranche, which was intended to be listed with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., was expected to be offered to the general public within this year.

The company said proceeds from retail bonds would be used to finance potential acquisitions, future investments, and other general corporate requirements.

In the first quarter of 2017, AboitizPower reported a 13-percent year-on-year drop in its consolidated net income, which settled at P4.4 billion.

However, the company also saw a 4-percent year-on-year rise in first-quarter core net income, reaching P5 billion this year from P4.8 billion in 2016.

The company said increased interest expense and depreciation narrowed the growth rate in core net income.

AboitizPower cited non-recurring losses of P577 million, a reversal from last year’s gain of P242 million.

This was attributed to foreign exchange losses on the revaluation of dollar-denominated liabilities and mark-to-market of derivatives.

The group’s power generation business recorded a 14-percent jump in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, which was pegged at P9.2 billion from P8.1 billion previously.

During the March quarter, growth in AboitizPower’s attributable net energy sold was flat at 3,448 gigawatt-hours (GWh).