SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) has secured the registration for its $3-billion (about P152.22 billion) bond program that will finance its infrastructure projects and refinance existing obligations.
The listed conglomerate said in a stock exchange disclosure Thursday it had established a medium-term note and securities program with several foreign banks. The program allows SMC to issue notes and perpetual capital securities from time to time.
“Application has been made to the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. (SGX-ST) for permission to deal in and quotation for any instruments which are agreed at the time of issue thereof to be so listed on the SGX-ST,” it said.
“Such permission will be granted when such instruments have been admitted to the official list of the SGX-ST,” it added.
SMC made the program with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Credit Suisse (Singapore) Ltd., DBS Bank Ltd., Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd., Standard Chartered Bank and UBS AG Singapore Branch.
It allows the company to make the offers in series or tranches, which will have a denomination of US dollars or any currency as agreed upon by the company and dealers.
The principal amount and the timing of offers from the program will depend on factors such as market conditions and corporate needs, SMC said.
The instruments by which the offers will be made may not be publicly offered in the Philippines or the United States.
In a previous announcement, SMC said proceeds from the issuance will mainly fund projects such as the P62.7-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7 and the P734-billion Bulacan airport, which it is undertaking with the government.
Aside from the dollar-denominated program, SMC also has a proposed shelf registration for P60-billion short-term commercial papers, which it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. The planned issuance was given a PRS Aaa (corp.) credit rating — the highest in its scale — by local debt watcher Philippine Ratings Services Corp.
Earnings of SMC in the first nine months of 2019 climbed 2% to P20.24 billion on the back of increased volumes from its energy and food and beverage businesses.
The company’s shares at the stock exchange rose 20 centavos or 0.15% to close at P132.30 each on Thursday. — Denise A. Valdez
