PSALM raises $19B from privatization

November 19, 2015 9:09 pm by RITCHIE A. HORARIO
http://www.manilatimes.net/psalm-raises-19b-from-privatization/230093/

STATE-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. said it generated a total of $19.878 billion or P935.8 billion from privatization efforts in the first quarter of the year.

PSALM said the actual collection amounted to $9.577 billion, or about P450.8 billion, with the balance of $10.30 billion yet to be collected.

PSALM said it had yet to collect proceeds from the privatization of independent power producer (IPPA) administrator contracts amounting to $7.744 billion, with about $2.557 billion also still to be collected from the privatization of transmission businesses.

The agency said proceeds of $3.534 billion from the privatization of the power generating assets during the period have been collected.

It also collected $4 million as proceeds from the sale of decommissioned plants.

“Of the $8.797-billion privatization proceeds utilized, $8.689 billion or 98.77 percent was used for the liquidation of financial obligations,” said PSALM.

PSALM added that the difference between the total amount collected and total utilization in the amount of $780 million has been placed in temporary investments while awaiting utilization.

The agency said it used $1.298 billion of the privatization proceeds for debt repayment, $4.979 billion for regular debt service, and $2.412 billion for BOT (build-operate-transfer) lease obligations.

It also used $107 million for privatization-related expenses and $1 million for the operations expenses of National Transmission Corp. (TransCo).

Because of these collections, PSALM said its financial obligations in the first quarter of the year had been reduced.

It said that from P1.241 trillion in 2003, the agency’s obligations have been trimmed down to P574.9 billion.

It said it was able to reduce liabilities by continuously implementing a liability management program and strategies.

“This reduction, amounting to P665.68 billion, is attributable to the lower BOT (build-operate-transfer) lease obligations and debt balances which were brought about by the privatization of some IPP plants and payments of maturing obligations,” it said.

PSALM manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp. (NPC or Napocor). The government transferred Napocor’s assets and liabilities to PSALM in 2008.

The total asset balance that was transferred amounted to P831 billion as of December 31, 2008 and the total liability balance amounted to P904.8 billion for the same period.