Carmen Copper's $300-million notes issue draws strong interest

MANILA, Philippines - The $300-million five-year fixed rates notes offer by Carmen Copper Corp., a wholly-owned unit of Atlas Consolidated Mining & Development Corp., has received strong investor interest, capitalizing on strong liquidity overseas.

“Carmen Copper is very pleased with the results of its fund raising efforts. The success of the maiden issue of its debt securities confirms the acceptance by both the local and international investment communities of Carmen Copper as an emerging capital markets issuer,” said company-vice president Adrian Ramos.

Carmen Copper, which operates the 1,674-hectare Toledo copper mine in central Cebu province, said the notes were issued at the price of 98.95 percent of face value.

The notes will pay interest semi-annually at the rate of 6.5 percent and carry a yield to maturity of 6.75 percent, CCC said.

“With the issue of the notes which represents a premiere international offering from a Philippine mining company, Carmen Copper is able to capitalize on the strong liquidity onshore and offshore and on the prevailing low interest rate environment to extend its debt maturity profile and to finance its expansion plans,” the company said.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited have been tapped as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners for the issue.

Net proceeds from the offering will be used to refinance Carmen Copper’s debt as well as fund capital and project expenditures.

Carmen Copper was acknowledged as Southeast Asia’s largest copper mine at its peak, a major economic backbone for Cebu for 50 years until a devastating typhoon and a metal price slump led to the facility’s closure in 1994. The site was estimated to contain about 1.5 billion tons of ore or about five million tons of copper.

The company reported a three-fold jump in net profit last year to P2.54 billion. Core income grew 59.5 percent to P2.28 billion as revenues climbed 41.2 percent to P12.5 billion on higher shipments.