Energy Development gets $175-M syndicated loan

First Gen-affiliate Energy Development Corp. has secured $175 million in syndicated loans for general corporate purposes, the company said Monday. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said that it signed a three-year syndicated-term loan with ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited) Manila Branch, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and Standard Chartered as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. Proceeds from the loan will finance its general corporate funding needs and refinance and repay maturing loans, Energy Development said. The loan carries an interest of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), plus a margin of 325 basis points. LIBOR is a daily reference rate based on the interest rates at which banks borrow unsecured funds from other banks in the London wholesale money market – the interbank market. The company said it posted a P3.8-billion net income in the first quarter, up 68 percent from P2.27 billion posted for the same period last year. Energy Development is the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, accounting for 62 percent of the total installed geothermal capacity. —VS, GMANews.TV