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FIRST
Philippine Electric Corp., (First Philec) the holding
firm for all the manufacturing units of the Lopez-led
First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), is selling a
portion of its stake in First Philec Solar Corp. to
raise funds and grow business.
First
Philec Solar is a joint venture of First Philec and
SunPower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd. (SPML), in which
the former has 80-percent stake. The company provides
wafer-slicing services to the solar-energy industry.
In a
press briefing Thursday, FPHC president Elpidio Ibañez
said they would sell up to 29 percent and still keep the
majority stake of 51 percent.
“The
proceeds [from the sale] would be used for the expansion
of the business,” he said. He did not say though the
amount of proceeds they are expecting from the
divestment.
Based on
the joint venture agreement, SPML will deliver silicon
ingots to First Philec Solar. In return, the later will
slice and deliver silicon wafers to SunPower Philippines
that will support up to the equivalent of around 660
megawatts of power per year. The cost of construction
and development of the project is around $76 million.
First Philec Solar is expected to be operational by the
second half of 2008.
FPHC,
whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, also
holds interest in power distribution and generation,
infrastructure and property development.
Last
year, the company posted a net income of P4.5 billion
from P8.7 billion a year earlier. While lower by 49
percent, the net income on a recurring basis was higher
at 62 percent.
In 2006,
FPHC booked three significant transactions which were
considered extraordinary, namely, the gain from dilution
of P2.7 billion from the initial public offering of
First Gen Corp.; the effects of the reversal made by
FPHC’s associate Meralco on provisions for possible
losses related to an unbundling rate case involving P2.8
billion; and a P535-million gain from the sale of
investments in SiRF Technologies Inc., a US associate.
Consolidated revenues also fell P60.5 billion from P63.7
billion in 2006. First Gen accounted for 82 percent of
the total, while First Philippine Infrastructure Inc.
contributed 9 percent.
Revenues
from FPHC’s investments in manufacturing and
construction, property development, and pipeline
services accounted for the remaining 9 percent.
The
company will start today until April 24 the sale of 43
million perpetual preferred shares worth P4.3 billion.
The dividend rate has been set at 8.7231 percent to be
paid semiannually in arrears for five years.
Proceeds
from the sale will be used to prepay existing loans and
fund-strategic acquisitions. |
