Oil distributor Petron Corp. filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register and sell P40 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds.
“The first tranche of the bonds to be offered has an aggregate principal amount of P15 billion, with an oversubscription option of up to P5 billion,” Petron said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday.
Petron did not disclose where it would use the proceeds from the bond issue.
The company said earlier it planned to put up over 250 new service stations in the Philippines and Malaysia this year. There are nearly 2,800 Petron stations in the two countries.
Petron president and chief executive Ramon Ang also said the oil firm was mulling over a plan to establish 12 retail stations along the 88.5-kilometer Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.
Ang also said Petron would upgrade the Port Dickson refinery in Malaysia. The company rebranded to Petron some 550 stations which the company acquired from Exxon Mobil.
Petron’s $2-billion refinery upgrade in Bataan started full commercial operations in January with higher utilization rate and increased production of higher-value fuels.
Ang said the company would also continue its retail expansion program both in the Philippines and Malaysia.
“In Malaysia, we had a massive gas station network expansion. We just completed the rebranding,” Ang said.
Petron said consolidated net income jumped 55 percent in the first half to P5.3 billion from P3.4 billion over the same period last year.
Consolidated sales revenues, however, dropped 13 percent in the first six months to P161.9 billion from P186.1 billion a year ago, because of lower crude oil prices.
Dubai crude averaged $36.80 per barrel in the first half, compared to $56.59 a barrel last year.
Petron said despite weaker oil prices and reduced product “cracks” (the differential between the prices of crude oil and finished products) this year, margins were sustained by its $2-billion Bataan refinery upgrade which substantially increased the production of higher value white products and petrochemicals.
The facility now has a combined refining capacity of 268,000 barrels per day and produces a full range of world-class fuels and petrochemicals.
Petron’s operating income hit P11.5 billion in January to June, a 29 percent growth from last year’s P8.9 billion.
“Petron continues to deliver strong results amid the prolonged slump in oil prices. This is a direct effect of much improved operational productivity and the expansion of our markets,” Ang said.