MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) has approved oil giant Petron Corp.'s P10-billion preferred share offering next month.

Petron will set the dividend rate for the preferred shares on February 9, and conduct the offering from February 15 until February 27. The shares will be listed on the first board of the PSE on March 5.

Petron plans to issue 50 million preferred shares, with an overallotment option of another 50 million shares. The shares will be sold for P50 to P100 each.

The preferred shares will be non-voting and non-convertible and will be redeemed at the option of the company. The preferred shares will be prioritized in dividend payouts and will be given preference in case of company liquidation.

Petron earlier appointed BDO Capital and Investment Corp., BPI Capital Corp., and ING Bank N.V. Manila as the joint issue managers and lead managers for the offering.

The company plans to use offer proceeds for capital expenditures and repayment of short-term debts.

As of end September 2009, Petron's total short-term debt amounted to P45.6 billion.

For the first 9 months of last year, Petron reported a net income of P3.36 billion, up 20.8% year-on-year, despite a 45% decrease in revenues to P123 billion.

Petron is the country's largest oil refining and marketing company. As of end-July 2009, the company had an overall market share of 36.4% versus Philipine Shell Petroleum Corp.'s 27.9% and Chevron Philippines' 13.7%.