First Gen sets redemption of P4.7 B worth of preferred shares

By Myrna M. Velasco – November 29, 2022, 9:52 AM
from Manila Bulletin

Lopez-led First Gen Corporation has scheduled for December the redemption of various preferred shares worth P4.7 billion by its investors, as approved by the company’s board of directors in their meeting Tuesday, Nov. 29.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the company indicated that it will enforce partial redemption of its Series “H” preferred shares on Dec. 15 this year, covering 43,000,000 shares from First Gas Power Corporation and 550,000 shares from Prime Meridian Powergen Corporation, two of its subsidiaries manning its gas-fired power facilities.

These preferred shares are valued at P100 per share or worth more than P4.355 billion.

The company emphasized that the scale of preferred “H” shares to be redeemed account for 52 percent of the issued shares under that series.

Additionally, the company will redeem one billion of its Series “B” preferred shares for P0.02 per share and 468,553,892 of its Series “E’ preferred shares at P0.01 per share for outstanding shareholders as of record date Dec. 28, 2022 and to be paid on January 24, 2023.

Another major preferred shares redemption will be for the firm’s “H” series covering 82,986,740 shares for P4.37 per share or transaction worth of P362.652 million.

First Gen specified that the record date set for its Series “H” preferred shares is Dec. 14, 2022 and outstanding shareholders will receive their payments on Dec. 15 this year.

On top of that, the Lopez-led company also declared cash dividends for its common shares in the amount of P0.42 per share, with a record date of Dec. 15, 2022 and payment on Jan. 10 next year.

First Gen has diversified portfolio in the clean energy technologies genre, mainly renewable energy power plants utilizing geothermal, wind, solar and hydro technologies, as well as its gas-fed power generating assets.

The next major venture for the company will be the targeted commercial operations of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility, which will replace the gas supply voided from the depletion of the Malampaya gas field.

The LNG import facility will start with an offshore installation, which will eventually be replaced with a more permanent onshore terminal infrastructure.