MANILA — Shares in Citicore Renewable Energy Corp CREC.PS, one of the Philippines‘ biggest solar power producers, closed flat in their market debut on Friday.
Citicore raised P5.3 billion ($90.58 million) in what was only the Philippines‘ second listing this year, to finance new solar power plants and a battery energy storage system.
The firm has a market value of $412 million and plans to build and commission 1,000 megawattts (MW) of solar power capacity every year for the next five years, company CEO Oliver Tan told a press conference.
Citicore shares opened 1.85% higher and never went below the initial public offer price of 2.70 pesos each, which was also the closing price. The Philippines‘ broader stock market index .PSI ended 0.14% higher.
Citicore, which has a current gross installed capacity of 285 MW, is targeting issuance of green bonds and to tap banks to fund future projects that will include hydro and wind projects, Tan said.
The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,600 islands that is among the most vulnerable to climate change, aims to increase renewables in its power mix from 22% in 2022 to 35% by 2030 and to 50% by 2040.
Coal accounted for nearly 60% in 2020 and 43.9% in 2023.
($1 = 58.51 Philippine pesos)
—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Martin Petty
