SMC plans to issue P60 B worth of commercial papers

San Miguel Corp. is preparing to raise P60 billion from the domestic bond market.

SMC has approved the issuance of P60 billion commercial papers which will be filed under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s shelfregistration facility.

The planned CP offering obtained an issuer credit rating of PRS Aaa rating from the Philippine Rating Services Corp. It was also issued a stable outlook.

A company rated PRS Aaa (corp). has a very strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to other Philippine corporates. A PRS Aaa is the highest corporate credit rating assigned in the PRS scale.

PhilRatings likewise maintained its PRS Aaa rating and stable outlook for SMC’s outstanding P70 billion fixed-rate bonds and notes.

A stable outlook, on the other hand, indicates that the assigned rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next 12 months.

The assigned ratings reflect the following key considerations: SMC’s well-entrenched market leadership and solid track record of subsidiaries, ample liquidity, manageable leverage position and its experienced management team.

SMC is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines,

with diversified businesses ranging from beverages, food, packaging, fuel and oil, energy, infrastructure, and with investments in property, car distributorship and banking services.

Moving forward, the SMC Group continues to expand its presence in industries which support and benefit from the growth and development of the Philippine economy such as fuel and oil, energy and infrastructure.

Cash flow from operations remained positive, amounting to P58.4 billion as of the end of September 2019. It also had ample unavailed peso and dollar credit lines from various financial institutions.