THE fixed-rate bond offering of Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) was oversubscribed by more than 5.9 times before it closed the transaction.
In a disclosure on Monday, the listed bank said that the order book for its 2.5-year and 5.25-year fixed-rate Asean sustainability bonds reached P17.87 billion. The offer period ran from March 12 to 19.
The information was received well by the market as shares of RCBC climbed by 2.34 percent, or 40 centavos, to P17.50 each amid the 0.64-percent drop for the benchmark index on Monday.
The bonds, which have a minimum size of P3 billion, are slated to be listed on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. on March 31.
The bonds carry interest rates of 3.2 percent per annum for the 2.5-year tenor and 4.18 percent per annum for the 5.25-year tenor.
Proceeds are also allocated to support the bank’s asset growth, to fund general corporate matters and to refinance maturing liabilities, in addition to financing eligible loans cited in its sustainable finance framework.
The Yuchengco-led lender tapped Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) as the sole lead arranger and bookrunner of the transaction while RCBC Capital Corp. is the financial advisor. Both SCB and RCBC are the selling agents.
The transaction is the sixth drawdown from the bank’s P100-billion bond and commercial paper program. Previously, RCBC launched P15-billion Asean Green Bond in February 2019, P8-billion Asean Sustainability Bonds in June 2019, P7.5-billion in November 2019, and P7.05-billion bonds in March 2020 and P16.6-billion bonds in July 2020.
The bank’s sustainable finance framework has been certified by Sustainalytics, an independent environmental, social and governance research and ratings provider.
Earlier, RCBC said it was aiming to offer a benchmark sized foreign currency denominated senior note offering this year, which will be drawn out of its medium-term note program.
The offering, which could potentially be launched by second quarter or beyond, may offer green or sustainable financial instruments.
RCBC registered P5.018 billion in net earnings last year, a 7-percent decline from P5.388 billion in 2019, as impairment losses jumped by 26.1 percent to P9.33 billion.
As of end-December 2020, total assets and capitalization stood at P770.8 billion and P101.5 billion, respectively. Capital adequacy ratio and common equity tier 1 are currently at 16.1 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.