Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) raised $500 million from its US dollar-denominated 5.5-year senior unsecured fixed-rate notes, expanding its corporate war chest.
“Upon issuance, the net proceeds from the bonds will be used to tap longer-term offshore funding, diversify Metrobank’s funding sources and finance maturing short-term borrowings,” the bank said in a disclosure on Wednesday.
The Ty-led bank said each note has a fixed coupon rate of 2.215 percent payable semiannually.
The offering was priced at US Treasury spread of T+200 basis points (bps) after initial price guidance of T+235 bps area.
The transaction was met with robust demand with the order book being oversubscribed by more than five times.
The order book mainly comprised transactions from Asia at 81 percent, while the remaining came from Europe, Middle East and Africa.
This issuance is the first venture of Metrobank in the international markets for its senior notes.
Last month, Metrobank raised P10.5 billion from its bond offering on the back of robust demand from investors. This offering is the sixth tranche out of the Metrobank’s P100-billion bond and commercial paper program. Metrobank has accumulated P70.5 billion from bond offerings since November 2018.
The bank saw its net profits decline by 9 percent to P6.12 billion in the first three months from P6.75 billion last year for the same period on the back of higher provisions for bad loans.
Metrobank shares were down by 2.37 percent, or 90 centavos, to close at P37.10 each amid the 0.29-percent uptick for the benchmark index on Wednesday.
Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee said they are “very pleased” with the outcome of the issuance.
“This bond issuance will further enhance our business strength and optimize our capital structure especially in this current market environment,” Dee was quoted as saying.
Fernando Antonio A. Tansingco, the bank’s head of the financial markets sector, said that the issuance would allow the bank to diversify funding sources while “strengthening financial position toward recovery.”
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.