Petron secures P14B from share sale
MANILA -Local oil giant Petron Corp. has raised from its preferred share offering last month a total of P14 billion, which exceeded the base offer by P1.5 billion.
In a statement, Petron said it listed the preferred shares at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, July 7. The company previously announced that the amount raised would be used to redeem senior perpetual capital securities issued in 2018.
Perpetual capital securities have no maturity date, but an issuer may choose to redeem these after a period of time.
“We are grateful and at the same time humbled by the strong response of the investment community. Results such as this move us to pursue projects that will ensure our growth and sustainability in the long haul,” Petron president and chief executive Ramon Ang said.
According to the company, its initial base offer of P12.5 billion was oversubscribed, “affirming the positive and continued support of institutional and retail investors for Petron.”
Dividend rates per annum on the preferred shares are 6.7079 percent for Series 4A, 6.7972 percent for Series 4B and 7.0861 percent for Series 4C.
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These formed part of a shelf registration of P50 billion worth of preferred shares earlier filed at the Securities and Exchange Commission. A company prioritizes interest and dividend payments for holders of preferred shares. But unlike common shares, preferred shares give no voting rights to investors.
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Petron is banking on the consistent rise in fuel demand and “better industry conditions” to drive growth this year.
The company logged a slight dip in earnings in the first quarter of 2023 despite strong sales volume and fuel demand. Net income declined to P3.4 billion from P3.6 billion in the same period last year.
Petron earnings falter on higher financing cost
It said this was due to higher financing costs, but that the decline was tempered by an 11-percent increase in consolidated sales volume of 28.6 million barrels from 25.7 million barrels.
