Spam luncheon meat is shown in this photo from the brand's Facebook page.

MANILA -- San Miguel Corp is spending P742 billion to grow its food and beverage business, including manufacturing Spam luncheon meat locally, said its president, Ramon Ang.

It will be the first time for San Miguel to make Spam in the Philippines under its long-running partnership with Hormel. Its unit, San Miguel Purefoods, manufactures Purefoods Tender Juicy hotdogs and canned meats.

The proposed Spam factory can make up to 150,000 tons of luncheon meat every year, Ang said.

San Miguel is expanding notwithstanding the peso's weakness against the dollar, which could pad borrowing costs, Ang said.

The company's debt to equity ratio is currently at 2 percent. The debts were made with an exchange rate assumption of P50 per dollar, Ang said. The local unit recently breached the 53 level to the greenback.

"With all of this expansion kahit tumaas (even if it increases to) 2.8 to 2.9 (percent), it is still very low," Ang said.

San Miguel also plans to build 5 breweries to reduce transportation costs. This includes upgrading its Sta Rosa bottling plant into a full-sized brewery, he said.

-- report from Warren de Guzman, ABS-CBN News