BPI sells more than P36 billion worth of bonds

Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) on Monday issued P36.66 billion worth of peso fixed-rate bonds due 2025, listing the bonds on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) on the same day, according to a report by Manila Times.

The bank said this was the second tranche of a P100-billion bond program approved by its board of directors on May 18, 2022.

The bonds, with a term of 1.5 years and an interest rate of 6.425 percent per annum payable quarterly, are now tradable on PDEx.

The final issue size was more than seven times the initial target of P5.0 billion, given strong investor demand. Net proceeds of the offer will be used for general corporate purposes, including funding source diversification.

"Our business continues to thrive mainly because of the strong trust our customers, investors, and stakeholders have in what we do," BPI Treasurer Dino Gasmen said in a statement.

"We thank our investors for the incredible demand in our issuance, as this will greatly support our push to expand our digitalization efforts and diversify our funding sources," he added.

"We remain strongly committed to further improving our capacity to provide financial services that our fellow Filipinos need in line with our vision of building a better Philippines, one family, one community at a time."

BPI Capital Corp. and ING Bank N.V., Manila Branch, served as the joint lead arrangers and selling agents of the offer.

BPI has reported a record net income of P38.6 billion for the first nine months of the year, up 26.4 percent from a year earlier and driven by sustained loan and margin growth.

Consolidated revenues for the period expanded by 15.3 percent to P100.9 billion on a 24.5-percent rise in net interest income to P76.8 billion.

BPI shares were down P1.10, or 1.06 percent, at P103 each on Monday amid a 0.74 percent downturn for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.