San Miguel Brewery bonds retain Aaa rating

The bonds issuance of the beer unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has retained its highest rating. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, SMBI said it maintained its "PRS Aaa issue rating" for its P38.8 billion bond issue. "A PRS Aaa-rated debt security is defined as:'Obligations rated PRS Aaa are of the highest quality with minimal credit risk. The obligor's capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is extremely strong,'" San Miguel said. SMBI's Series A of the bond (amounting to 13.59 billion) will mature on April 3, 2012, while Series B (amounting to P22.40 billion) will mature in 2014 while Series C (amounting to P2.81 billion) will mature in 2019. The company has earlier said that it would use proceeds of the bonds to fund its parent firm's venture into heavy and other industries. San Miguel has investments in oil refinery and distribution and power distribution. The company is also seeking investments in infrastructure projects. As of June 30, 2011, SMBI was 51-percent owned by San Miguel and 48.4-percent owned by Japan's Kirin Holdings Co. Ltd. In the year's first half, SMBI said sales rose 7 percent to P35.6 billion, while net cash from operations stood at P6.5 billion. The company has a reported market share of 96 percent. - CMA/OMG, GMA News