Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) announced on Monday it was eyeing to offer senior unsecured notes amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The listed bank told the local bourse via disclosure that its planned Regulation S, US-dollar denominated offering has a 5.5-year tenor.
It was rated Baa2 stable and BBB- stable by Moody’s and Fitch Ratings, respectively.
Metrobank said that the offering is subject to market conditions.
Proceeds of the transaction will be allocated to refinance existing liabilities.
UBS and First Metro Investment Corp. are the joint global coordinators and bookrunners while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and SMBC Nikko Capital Markets Ltd. are the joint lead managers.
Last month, Metrobank raised P10.5 billion from its bond offering on the back of robust demand from investors. Each bond carries a coupon rate of 3 percent and has a tenor of 1.25 years.
This offering is the sixth tranche out of Metrobank’s P100-billion bond and commercial paper
program.
Metrobank has accumulated P70.5 billion from bond offerings since November 2018.
In the first quarter, Metrobank saw its net profits decline by 9 percent to P6.12 billion from P6.75 billion last year for the same period on the back of higher provisions for bad loans.
The Ty-led bank set aside P5-billion allowance for nonperforming loans (NPL) in the first quarter, which is more than double of what was earmarked last year.
As of end-March, the bank’s NPL ratio was stable at 1.4 percent while NPL coverage stood at 114 percent.
Metrobank shares dropped by 2.70 percent, or P1.05, to close at P37.90 each amid the 0.69-percent decline for the benchmark index on Monday. Tyrone Jasper C. Piad