ACEN unit Belenos gets fresh capital boost

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led ACEN Corp. is pouring in additional capital into subsidiary Belenos Energy Corp. to help the latter establish its presence in the green energy space.

A subscription agreement was inked last week, with ACEN subscribing to 81 million redeemable preferred shares of Belenos with a par value of P1 apiece, totaling P81 million.

The shares, equivalent to 10.75 percent of the total outstanding shares of Belenos, would be issued out of the increase in its authorized capital stock, subject to regulatory approvals.

Belenos is a special-purpose vehicle for the ACEN Group’s development projects in the Philippines.

“The subscription will allow ACEN to have significant ownership in Belenos and is meant to implement Belenos’ investment into a potential renewable energy (RE) project,” the Ayala Group’s listed energy platform said.

The latest transaction followed the signing of an agreement last month for the company’s subscription to about P467.75 million worth of Belenos shares.

In December last year, ACEN disclosed plans to subscribe to P22.33 million worth of common shares of Belenos and an additional P200.93 million worth of redeemable preferred shares.

In the first half of 2024, the energy firm hiked its earnings by 49 percent to P6.3 billion from P4.2 billion a year ago due to a 42-percent growth in renewable output.

ACEN delivered a total attributable RE output of 2,908 gigawatt-hours (GWh) during the period, 1,015 GWh of which were generated in the Philippines.

It currently boasts a portfolio of about 4.8 GW of attributable RE capacity in operation and under construction, on top of the recently signed agreements and competitive tenders worth over one GW.

ACEN president and CEO Eric Francia earlier said the company has remained on track with its ambitious goal of achieving 20 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.

“We have strong momentum on the back of a robust increase in operating earnings and steady progress with our project pipeline. We have won several new projects that we expect to add to our capacity within the next six to 12 months,” he said.