BENPRES Holdings Corporation benefited from lower debt levels, posting a net income attributable to equity holders of the parent of P10.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2009. This is a reversal of the P841 million net loss attributable to equity holders of the parent posted in 9M08.

The net income is largely due to the one-time gain of P7.5B from the extinguishment of debt. On Aug. 21, 2009 the company bought back its own debt from Avenue Capital Group, in the principal amount of US$252M and P467M, respectively, at an overall price of 65% of face value. The purchase price was settled in full. Thus, as of Sept. 30, 2009, Benpres’ outstanding debt was down to P3B from P16B as of Dec. 31, 2008. With the debt buyback, interest and other expenses-net was 16% lower for 9M09.

Benpres president Angel S. Ong said the significant reduction of the company’s debt augurs well for the publicly listed conglomerate, which controls ABS-CBN Corporation and First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPHC).

“Lower debt levels mean the company is now poised to shift from a defensive position to a growth-oriented mode in support of the power group’s focus on developing clean and renewable energy sources, and ABS-CBN’s direction to expand its services and reach more Filipinos globally,” Ong said.

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment Preview