PETRON UPSIZES NOTES OFFER TO P10-BILLION

Petron, the Philippines' leading oil refining and marketing company upsized
the issuance of its Fixed Rate Corporate Notes (FXCN) to P10 billion from the original amount of P3 billion due to high demand from participating banks.

This was announced during the signing of the Note Facility Agreement May 29, 2009. The issue, one of the largest corporate note issuances in the history of Philippine debt capital markets, was more than three times oversubscribed and was priced at 8.139% for the five year tenor and 9.329% for the seven year tenor.
The facility was priced 200 basis points over the applicable benchmark PDSTF rate, the lowest end of the company’s pricing guidance.

Petron President Eric O. Recto said:
“The strong and positive response to our notes issue reflects the trust and confidence of the investment community in the viability and profitability of Petron over the longterm. It likewise underscores the company’s solid fundamentals, undisputed market leadership, extensive and efficient distribution network and numerous synergies with San Miguel.”

PhilRatings gave the highest possible corporate rating, a PRS AAA rating for Petron’s outstanding P6.3 billion corporate notes issued in July 2006. PhilRatings
likewise gave the same rating to the company’s overall capacity to service its maturing debts. A rating of PRS Aaa is given to corporations “with a VERY STRONG capacity to meet its financial requirements relative to that of other Philippine corporates.”

Given the upsize of Petron’s FXCN, the company said that it will no longer pursue its initial plan to issue retail bonds. Funds from the FXCN will be used to pursue projects such as an aggressive retail network expansion program and additional improvements at its 180,000 barrel-per-day Bataan refinery.

The expansion program aims to further enhance customer convenience and ensure the company’s market dominance. At the heart of this program is the construction of prefabricated stations that can start with 2-3 product pumps but easily expandable as demand grows.

Another initiative is the construction of additional refinery units including a second Petro Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (PetroFCC 2) that will enable the full conversion of residual products to more valuable gasoline, diesel, LPG and propylene.

Petron’s FXCN was jointly arranged by BPI Capital Corporation and ING Bank NV,Manila Branch as Joint Issue Managers together with the Development Bank of the Philippines and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited as Joint Lead Managers.


Source: Petron Corp Press Release Dated May 29, 2009