ACEN pours P178 million to boost oil unit’s capital

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. has channeled an additional investment of about P177.5 million to strengthen its listed subsidiary’s financial position.

In a regulatory filing, the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group said it signed an agreement for the subscription of around 177.5 million non-voting preferred shares of ENEX Energy Corp. at a par value of P1 apiece.

The shares will be issued out of the increase in ENEX’s authorized capital stock and the creation of the non-voting preferred shares, subject to regulatory approvals.

ACEN is the principal stockholder of ENEX, which is engaged primarily in the business of oil and gas exploration and production both here and abroad.

The latest transaction will fund the subsidiary’s operational requirements and the costs for the creation and issuance of preferred shares in line with efforts to help ENEX address its negative stockholders’ equity.

In May, ACEN subscribed to 30 million non-voting preferred shares of ENEX at a par value of P1 per share, for a total subscription price of P30 million.

The company last month invested P8.7 billion in its wholly owned Giga Ace 8 Inc. for the construction of its second-biggest solar farm in Zambales.

ACEN has programmed about P72 billion for capital spending this year to fuel its domestic energy projects and international operations.

Its portfolio currently includes around 4.8 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy (RE) capacity across the Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

ACEN plans to raise about $15 billion in new capital to quadruple its attributable RE capacity to 20 GW over the next six years.

The company had reported a 34 percent jump in earnings to P2.7 billion in the first quarter from P2 billion in the same quarter last year, powered by a 49-percent surge in RE output to 1,590 GW-hours.