SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its retail bond offering, which could raise up to P20 billion.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, SMC announced that the SEC issued the permit on June 14. The offering includes a base amount of P15 billion in fixed-rate retail bonds, with an option to increase by an additional P5 billion if there is sufficient demand.
The bond issuance features two series: 6.5-year Series O bonds maturing in 2031 with a fixed interest rate of 7.2584% per annum, and ten-year Series P bonds maturing in 2034 with a fixed interest rate of 7.7197% per annum.
SMC has received a “PRS Aaa” rating with a stable outlook from the Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) for its bond offering
Those with the “PRS Aaa” rating are “of the highest quality with minimal credit risk,” while the issuing company has an “extremely strong” capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligations, PhilRatings said.
This bond offering is the second and final tranche of SMC’s P50-billion fixed-rate bonds program, which was rendered effective in June 2021.
The offer period began on Tuesday and will end on June 24. The bonds are scheduled to be issued and listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on July 3.
According to its final offer supplement dated June 13, SMC expects to generate up to P19.75 billion in net proceeds if the oversubscription option is fully exercised.
The proceeds will be used for the redemption of the Series I bonds, investments in the company’s Bulacan airport project, and repayment of Series F bonds.
The conglomerate tapped Bank of Commerce, BDO Capital & Investment Corp., and Chinabank Capital Corp. as the joint issue managers of the offer.
Bank of Commerce, BDO Capital, and Chinabank Capital join Asia United Bank Corp., BPI Capital Corp., Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc., PNB Capital and Investment Corp., RCBC Capital Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. as the joint lead underwriters and bookrunners of the issuance.
For the first quarter, SMC reported a 94% decline in its attributable net income to P509 million due to foreign exchange loss while gross revenue rose by 13.3% to P392.71 billion.
SMC shares rose by 0.95% or 95 centavos to P100.90 per share on Tuesday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
