Alsons Consolidated Resources Inc., (ACR) recently sustained its issuer credit rating of PRS Aa minus (corp.) with a Stable Outlook from the Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings). The rating was made in relation to ACR’s issuance of up to ₱3.0 billion in Commercial Papers (CP).
According to PhilRatings, a company with a PRS Aa rating “has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to other Philippine corporates.” The rating agency assigns a Stable Outlook when a rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next twelve months.
Among the factors cited by PhilRatings for maintaining ACR’s credit rating were: 1.” The commencement of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) in Mindanao and the upcoming completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP), …may possibly broaden the Company’s market reach to Luzon and Visayas.” 2. ACR’s “…planned expansion projects which will further diversify its generation mix”; 3. “the Company’s ability to establish joint ventures with strong partners for particular projects”; and 4. ACR’s “ample liquidity, supported by positive operating cash flows.”
ACR listed ₱620 million from the first tranche of the company’s ₱3 billion CP Program. with the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corporation (PDEx) last December. This is the third CP Program for the publicly-listed company of the Alcantara Group which had its first CP issuance in 2018. Proceeds from the issuance will be used primarily for general working capital purposes.
The company is now focused on building up its renewable energy capacity in the next few years, with
around eight run-of-river hydroelectric power facilities in the company’s pipeline. The first of these hydroelectric power plants is the 14.5 mega-watt (MW) Siguil Hydro power plant currently under construction in Maasim, Sarangani Province, which is targeting to begin operations before the end of
this year.
The next two renewable energy facilities slated for development are a hydro and possible solar power project in Zamboanga del Norte with a potential combined capacity of up to 37.8 MW, and a hydro power project in the Bago River in Negros Occidental with a planned capacity of up to 42 MW. “…Eventually, renewable energy sources will comprise at least half of ACR’s long-term energy mix,” ACR Chairman and President Nicasio I. Alcantara stated last year.
ACR is Mindanao’s first private sector power generator providing electricity to over eight million people in 14 cities and 11 provinces in the country’s second largest island. The company currently has a portfolio of four power plants in Mindanao with a total capacity of 468 MW.
