Petron lists P18B in fixed-rate bonds

Petron Corp. on Tuesday listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) P18 billion in fixed-rate, peso-denominated bonds, which would help the country’s sole crude oil refiner service its debts and fund a power plant project in Bataan.

The two-series issuance is the first tranche of Petron’s P50-billion shelf registration that was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This consists of P9 billion in bonds maturing in 2025 with an interest rate of 3.4408 percent per year and another P9 billion maturing in 2027 with an interest rate of 4.3368 percent per year.

The company said the issue, its third PDEx listing, was nearly thrice oversubscribed. PhilRatings gave it a top credit rating of PRS Aaa.

“We’re particularly proud of the reception from our retail investors, signifying their confidence in Petron and our future as a company,” Petron president and chief executive Ramon Ang said in a statement.

“Despite some of the challenges we still face, we continue to pursue our strategic goals, and ensure that we deliver long-term growth for the company,” Ang said.

Petron tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corp. as sole issue manager. Engaged as joint lead bookrunners and joint lead underwriters were BDO Capital, China Bank Capital Corp., Philippine Commercial Capital Inc., PNB Capital and Investment Corp. and SB Capital Investment Corp.

Also, First Metro Investment Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines and RCBC Capital Corp. were tapped as co-lead underwriters.

Proceeds from this fundraising exercise will be used primarily for the redemption of Petron’s outstanding bonds that are falling due this month, as well as for payment of existing debt.

Also, Petron is building a new 44-megawatt power plant in Limay to increase the power generation capacity of its existing 140-MW power plant in the refinery complex.

The new generator is expected to be completed and operational in the second half of 2022 after testing, synchronization and precommissioning activities.

Petron said last September the construction of the power plant, which started in the first semester of 2019, was about 90 percent complete.