CITICORE Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) is exploring the possibility of issuing green bonds next year, the listed company’s president said.
The decision hinges on the prevailing interest rate environment, CREC President and Chief Executive Officer Oliver Y. Tan told reporters on Friday last week.
“Most likely (it will be) next year because we would want to wait for a rate cut, for rates to go down,” he added.
Mr. Tan also said there is neither a range nor a size yet for the planned green bonds issuance.
On Friday, CREC listed its P5.3-billion initial public offering (IPO) consisting of 1.79 billion common shares, with a 10% overallotment option of up to 178.57-million secondary common shares at P2.70 apiece.
The company’s stock price was unchanged at the close of trading.
The public listing also secured a $12.5-million investment from the United Kingdom’s Mobilist Program, which provides assistance to support infrastructure development and green transition in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Tan said that while CREC remains open to potential mergers and acquisitions, he clarified that such endeavors are not currently part of the company’s immediate agenda,
“Of course, there are opportunities because if you look at solar, these are fragmented. There are opportunities to consolidate. But right now, we are focused on rolling out our projects,” he said.
Sought for comment on CREC’s market debut, Chinabank Capital Corp. Managing Director Juan Paolo E. Colet said in a Viber message: “It was a decent first-day performance with fairly stable trading throughout the session. CREC’s listing shows the equity market remains very open to promising renewable energy companies.”
“Moreover, the general success of Oceanagold (Philippines), Inc. and CREC could pave the way for other IPOs, though the larger offerings might wait until we see a dovish shift in monetary policy,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tan said that CREC is interested in participating in the third round of the Energy department’s Green Energy Auction program (GEA-3).
“Primarily, solar. I believe the Energy Department will include solar and battery energy storage systems. So that will also be another technology we are interested in. Also onshore wind,” he said.
The GEA program seeks to promote renewables as the primary source of energy through competitive selection. It will help achieve the government’s target of hiking the share of renewables in the energy mix to 35% by 2030 and 50% by 2040.
CREC aims to add one gigawatt (GW) of solar energy capacity annually to the Philippine energy mix, focusing on ready-to-build or under construction projects over the next five years, aiming for a total of around 5 GW by 2028. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
