Napocor okays ING Barings’ proposal to issue $500-M zero coupon bonds

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) board has approved the issuance of $500-million worth of ING Barings zero coupon bonds as part of the company’s financing program for 2004.

Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) outgoing president Edgardo del Fonso said the PSALM board has yet to give its go signal for the said borrowing scheme.

PSALM is an entity created by virtue of Republic Act 9136 or Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to manage the finances of Napocor.

Earlier reports that there are at least 10 foreign banks that have submitted proposals to raise a portion of the $1.3-billion financing requirement of the state-run power firm.

ING Barings has reportedly submitted a proposal to handle a bond offering for Napocor to partly finance the funding requirement of the power firm.

PSALM intends to raise at least $250 million in the first quarter to cover the financing needs of Napocor.

The cash-strapped Napocor will need about $1 billion to pay off maturing obligations ($900 million) and payments of capacity fees for independent power producers (IPPs) for 2004.

An additional $300 million will be needed by the power firm to finance its coal requirements for next year, excluding costs from fuel oil acquisitions.

The 2004 financing requirement of Napocor will depend on the outcome of the company’s privatization; the tariff increase that will be granted by the regulators; and universal charge that it will collect in the future.

Under the EPIRA, PSALM can collect universal fee from the electricity end-users to recover stranded costs and stranded debts of Napocor.

Aside from commercial borrowings in the domestic and foreign sources, about 40 to 50 percent of the company’s loan requirement is also being sourced from multilateral sources like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).