REFILE-Philippines' First Gen may sell assets to repay debt

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MANILA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Philippine power producer First Gen Corp (FGEN.PS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may borrow less than the $700 million it needs from banks to refinance debt because of pricing difficulties and could sell some assets, its president said on Wednesday.

"Our banks are still very supportive. Pricing is a little bit of an issue today but I think it's still very doable," First Gen President and Chief Executive Officer Federico Lopez told reporters.

About $400 million of the debt is due in November and the rest in 2009, officials said.

The debt was incurred by First Gen's $1.35 billion purchase last year of a majority 60 percent stake in geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp (EDC) (EDC.PS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and also investment in a 1,000-MW natural gas-fired plant on the main Luzon island.

Asked whether the company may borrow less than $700 million, Lopez said: "It's a possibility and we'll always weigh that against pricing and other things."

The company is looking at selling some of its assets to pay down debt, including a 40 percent stake in a holding firm that owns the First Gen holding in EDC and a 112-megawatt hydroelectric power plant, Lopez and other officials said.

"In this environment where it's very tenuous globally we have to make sure that we can line up many other alternatives," said Lopez.

It was also earlier looking at raising $110 million in three-year bonds through its unit Unified Holdings.

"That's still ongoing," Francis Giles Puno, chief financial officer of conglomerate First Philippine Holdings (FPH.PS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the parent of First Gen, told Reuters when asked about the planned debt issue. He did not give details.

"All of those are options being pursued." (Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Louise Heavens)