SMC Tollways Corp., a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp.-led SMC Infrastructure, plans to raise up to P35 billion from the issuance of peso-denominated fixed-rate bonds.
Under the plan, SMC Tollways will issue P30 billion worth of bonds with an oversubscription option for another P5 billion to fund expansion plan.
Ratings agency Philippine Ratings Services Corp. (PhilRatings), said it assigned a credit issue rating of PRS Aaa with a stable outlook on the company’s proposed bond offering. PRS Aaa is the highest rating assigned by PhilRatings.
Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of highest quality with minimal credit risk. This also means that the company’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong.
Meanwhile, a stable outlook means that the assigned rating is likely to be maintained or to remain unchanged in the next 12 months.
PhilRatings said that in assigning the rating, it considered SMC Tollways’ sustained improvement in profitably and easing leverage levels.
It said SMC Tollways is under the infrastructure group of the diversified conglomerate, and its tollways operations are experiencing strong demand.
SMC Tollways holds the concession rights for several toll road projects including Skyway System consisting of Skyway Stage 1 to 3 and Skyway Extension.
Average annual daily traffic in SMC Tollways’ Skyway Stage 1 and 2 in 2023 exceeded the 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Average annual daily traffic in Skyway Stage 3 also increased 51.4 percent as of end-2022 and 27.9 percent as of end-2023.
Overall average daily traffic for the whole Skyway system rose 2.8 percent in the first six months of 2024 from end-2023 level.
PhilRatings said it expects demand for the expressway to remain strong with a healthy projected annual growth rate.
The Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. earlier said it is maintaining its P400-billion corporate bond listing target for the year as more companies are expected to issue bonds amid easing interest rates.
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