THE Ayala Group, Asia’s oldest conglomerate, has cornered a fifth of the P1-trillion bond market.
The company said it has already listed some P203.13 billion worth of debt paper at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) since it started a decade ago.
Last week Bank of the Philippine Islands listed P25 billion, the largest single bond issue ever to be listed in PDEx, bringing the total local peso bond market to the trillion-peso level.
“Today’s trillion-peso bond market is the result of many factors—a vibrant economy, an innovative private sector and a commitment by the government sector to enhance the enabling environment,” Securities and Exchange Commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong said.
The Ayala Group has been a pioneer in the issuer community since the exchange started in 2008, when Ayala Corp. and Ayala Land Inc. listed a combined total of P10 billion.
Since then, the group has tapped the debt market to support the aggressive growth strategy of its various businesses in real estate, banking, telecommunications, water and power.
Over the last five years alone, Ayala has invested a cumulative group-wide total of P748.3 billion in capital expenditures to fund investments largely in Ayala Land and Globe Telecom, including new ventures in energy, industrial technologies, infrastructure, health care and education.
“Ayala has been a beneficiary of the country’s significant economic growth. This has served as a catalyst for us to unlock many opportunities and push us to develop new ideas to incubate new businesses, and to explore prospects for disruptive innovation,” Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said.