By
Lenie Lectura - April 25, 2019
SMC Global Power
Holdings Corp. (SMCGP) on Wednesday listed with the Philippine Dealing and
Exchange (PDEx) Corp. P30 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds, representing the
first tranche of P60-billion shelf-registered retail bonds and the company’s
fourth local bond issuance.
“The funds provided by
these bonds come at an opportune time as our country faces the daunting
challenge of ensuring that adequate and affordable supply of power is available
to meet our constantly growing demand.
“SMC Global Power
stands ready to take on these challenges, and pursue a business model and an
expansion strategy, all within a culture of excellence and innovation, that not
only supports the government’s national and regional energy policies and needs,
but also unequivocally show that there are better ways of conducting day-to-day
business operations in a socially and environmentally responsible manner,”
SMCGP General Manager Elenita Go said.
Go said proceeds will
be utilized to finance the power firm’s expansion projects. “We have many
expansion projects. It’s hard to tell at this point what these expansion
projects are.”
SMCGP is now one of the
largest power companies in the Philippines with a diversified portfolio
utilizing a mix of coal, natural gas and hydroelectric power plants. Its total
capacity is 2,903 megawatts (MW) representing 22 percent of the Luzon grid and
17 percent of the national grid.
SMCGP is the
independent power producer administrator (Ippa) for the Sual, Ilijan and San
Roque power plants. Moreover, it operates the 218-MW Angat hydroelectric power
plant in Bulacan; the 450-MW greenfield power plant in Limay, Bataan; the
300-MW greenfield power plant in Malita, Davao Occidental; and the 684-MW
Masinloc power-generating facility in Masinloc, Zambales.
Two units of SMC
Consolidated Power Corp.’s Limay coal facility went offline the other day due
to the Luzon earthquake. Both units, with a combined 300-MW capacity, are
expected to be synchronized with the grid this weekend.
“We were able to help
in the supply requirements of the grid. However, we just had a problem because
of the earthquake,” she said, adding that SMCGP is not colluding with other
power companies.
“We are fully
contracted. We are not in collusion. We are competing in prices,” Go said.
PDS group President
Theresa B. Ravalo welcomed the power firm’s listing. “We are delighted to note
that since its debut three years ago, San Miguel Global Power has issued and
listed their securities every year. And this year, with an oversubscribed
issuance, it is a testament to the SMCGP corporate name that it is able to tap
the market in a sizeable amount amid competition from large issues of financial
institutions.”
The frequent return to
the market by an issuer is a metric of that issuer’s sustained relationship
with its investors, Ravalo noted.
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