Petron lists P18 billion bonds on PDEx

MANILA, Philippines — Petron Corp. listed P18 billion worth of fixed-rate retail bonds on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) yesterday.

The issue, which is Petron’s third PDEx listing, was nearly thrice oversubscribed over the base offer of P18 billion, signifying strong support for the country’s largest oil company and only remaining refiner, Petron president and CEO Ramon Ang said in a statement.

“We’re particularly proud of the reception from our retail investors, signifying their confidence in Petron and our future as a company,” he said.

“Despite some of the challenges we still face, we continue to pursue our strategic goals, and ensure that we deliver long-term growth for the company. We are motivated to work harder in sustaining our leadership, knowing that we remain a viable and trusted investment option,” Ang said.

The P18 billion fixed rate bonds consist of Series E bonds worth P9 billion, maturing in 2025 with an interest rate of 3.4408 percent per annum, and Series F bonds also worth P9 billion, maturing in 2027 with an interest rate of 4.3368 percent per annum.

For the Series E Bonds, the oil firm sold P8.76 billion to retail investors and P241 million to institutional investors. Meanwhile, it sold P8.44 billion to retail investors and P560.6 billion to institutional investors under the Series F bonds.

Proceeds from this fundraising exercise will be used primarily for the redemption of Petron’s outstanding Series A bonds due in October this year, payment of existing indebtedness, and partial payment of the power plant project.

The homegrown oil giant is building a new power plant in Limay, Bataan to increase the capacity of its existing 140-MW power plant to 184 MW.

It is expected to be completed and operational in the second half of 2022 after testing, synchronization, and pre-commissioning activities.