NGCP eyes fundraising next year for dev’t plan

MANILA, Philippines - The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) is eyeing fundraising more early next year to support its Transmission Development Plan (TDP).

NGCP president and CEO Henry Sy Jr. told The STAR in an interview at the recent ING-FINEX CFO Awards that they are already evaluating several proposals from various banks.

He said they are also studying floating in medium or long-term notes.

“We will study some more. We are looking if it’s beneficial for NGCP today and for the future. We may be saving some interest today but we might be leaving ourselves open in the next 10 years because notes are normally 25 years. We may leave ourselves open to 10-year notes but I am studying everything,” he said.

He said they would want to make sure they get the best deal for the company.

“We want to make sure that it would be safe for the company. Not only that we will save money but safe for the company and the concession in the next 25 years,” he said.

“No indication yet on how much but by early next year, we would be able to firm up something,” he said.

He said they also have to decide on the prepayment of the concession contract with the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management  Corp. (PSALM).

According to Sy, they have been receiving numerous proposals from bank.

“Yes there are a number of proposals but we need to study that,” he said.

PSALM’s, the government entity that handles and manages the finances of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) which used to own the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) before it was spun off with the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

“No indication from PSALM yet (on how much they want for prepayment),” he said.

NGCP recently announced that it would issue P5-billion worth of fixed-rate corporate notes to finance its capital expenditures.

Based on the TDP, NGCP should pour in about P10 billion a year to upgrade the country’s power transmission grid.

NGCP took over the operations and maintenance of the country’s transmission network from the government in January 2009.