Leading oil firm Petron Corporation will be issuing P50 billion worth of peso-denominated fixed rate bonds – and the initial tranche to be offered to the public will be P18 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the oil company emphasized that it will slate P50 billion fixed rate bonds for shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and this shall be offered to capital market investors in several tranches.

Petron said the executive committee of the company’s board approved on their Monday (July 5) meeting the shelf registration of the bond issue; including the terms on the execution of warranted agreements with relevant parties.

According to Petron President Ramon S. Ang, the proceeds to be fetched from the bond issue will be funneled mainly to refinancing of the oil company’s outstanding financial obligations.

For this capital raising activity, Petron tapped BDO Capital & Investment Corporation as sole issue manager; while appointed as joint lead bookrunners and joint lead underwriters have been BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, China Bank Capital Corporation, Philippine Commercial Capital Inc., PNB Capital and Investment Corporation, and SB Capital Investment Corporation.

The targeted issuance of the fixed rate bonds, according to the oil company, shall also be listed with the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corporation (PDEx) and that may start with the initial tranche.

Petron announced during its annual stockholders’ meeting in May that it will sustain the operations of its oil refinery in Limay, Bataan; and that was a ‘change of course’ from initial shutdown plans had the ‘taxation issue’ in the petroleum refining sector not been remedied – and so far, that was done via the registration of Petron Limay refinery as an enterprise under the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB).

The company also divulged previously that it earmarked P11 billion capital expenditures (capex) this year to bankroll the ongoing construction of its steam generator plants, retail network expansion as well as capital outlay for maintenance requirement of its facilities.

As the oil firm paces for recovery from the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was able to bring to commercial fruition at least 14 new stations in the first quarter of this year; and that’s alongside the P1.73 billion net income it logged within the period, which has been symbolic of its rebound from the financial crash it suffered from at the height of the pandemic last year.

Petron noted it will be banking on the success of its vaccination program in its bid to return to the ‘normal pace’ of work across the chain of its operations – that is from the refinery to its various distribution points and retail networks nationwide.

The oil firm indicated it has also been improving on cutting down inventory losses – given the rising demand for fuel commodities in the country; as well as the rising prices of oil in the international market that are subsequently reflected in the domestic pumps.