Alsons retains favorable credit rating

MANILA, Philippines  -Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc. (ACR) of the Alcantara group said it had maintained its favorable credit rating, thanks to the commencement of the electricity spot market in Mindanao and its upcoming expansion projects.

In a statement, ACR said local debt watchdog Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) had kept the company’s credit rating of “PRS Aa minus,” saying the debut of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market in Mindanao “may possibly broaden the company’s market reach to Luzon and Visayas.”

A PRS Aa minus rating suggests that a company “has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to other Philippine corporates.”

In maintaining the credit rating, PhilRatings considered the upcoming completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project, ACR’s other projects that would diversify its generation mix and its “ample liquidity, supported by positive operating cash flows.”

In December, the company listed P620 million worth of debt paper from the first tranche of its P3-billion commercial paper (CP) program on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. Proceeds will be used to fund new renewable energy projects.

This is ACR’s third CP program since its first issuance in 2018.

CP refers to debt paper that matures in one year or less, as opposed to bonds that mature in more than a year.

PhilRatings also gave a “stable outlook” on its credit rating, meaning its assessment will likely be unchanged in the next 12 months.

ACR, Mindanao’s first private power generator, has four power plants with a total capacity of 468.

—MEG J. ADONIS INQ

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