AboitizPower lists P7.25-B bonds

By Jordeene B. Lagare – October 15, 2019
from The Manila Times

ABOITIZPOWER Corp. listed on Monday its fixed-rate bonds amounting to P7.25 billion at the Philippine Dealing System and Exchange Corp.

Series D Fixed Rate Bonds carry a fixed interest rate of 5.2757 per annum maturing in 2026.

This is the third tranche of the listed firm’s P30-billion debt securities program approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in June 2017.

Proceeds of AboitizPower’s latest bond offering has been earmarked to repay its short-term loan obligations and for general corporate purposes.

But during the listing ceremony, Liza Luv Montelibano, AboitizPower senior vice president and chief financial officer, said this is part of a larger goal of generating 33 terawatt-hours of energy by 2025.

“What’s been happening is we’ve been using our cash to do acquisitions. Then, for our other needs, we end up getting loans. This actually is refinancing some of the other loans that we’ve gotten but really the rhythm that we’re at [is] we continue to use part cash, part debt to do acquisitions,” Montelibano told reporters in an interview.

In August, AboitizPower, through subsidiary AboitizPower International Pte. Ltd., signed an agreement to acquire a 39.4-megawatt onshore wind power plant located in Ninh Thuan province in Vietnam.

Securing funding, according to the official, will enable AboitizPower to have cash for future acquisitions.

The remaining amount of the company’s debt securities program will be offered within the first half of the year.

“Without really knowing the future projects that we might plan to do in the first half of the year, it’s still to refinance some of the existing loans,” Montelibano said.

Previously, the bond issuance bagged the highest credit score from the Philippine Ratings Services Corp.

In August, the local debt watcher assigned an issue credit rating of “PRS Aaa” to the fixed-rate bond issuance, saying the Aboitiz-led power company’s capacity to meet its financial commitment was “extremely strong.”