Bank of Commerce (BoC), the lending arm of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said Friday it raised P6.57 billion from the sale of fixed-rate peso bonds.
BoC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the offering of Series B bonds was 1.3 times oversubscribed at the close of the offer period on May 9, 2024.
The strong demand from institutional and retail investors enabled BoC to raise more than the P5 billion initially targeted.
The Series B bonds, which carry a tenor of 1.5 years and a fixed interest rate of 6.5635 percent per annum, represent the second tranche of the bank’s P20-billion bond shelf registration program.
They will be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) on May 16, 2024.
BoC said it would use the net proceeds from the offering to refinance maturing debt.
ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch (ING) and Philippine Commercial Capital Inc. (PCCI Capital) acted as joint lead arrangers, joint bookrunners and selling agents for the offer.
The bank booked a record net income of P2.8 billion in 2023, up 56 percent from P1.8 billion a year ago on the back of the strong growth in its core lending business.
Return on equity stood at 9.52 percent, an improvement from the previous year’s 7.01 percent.
Net interest income went up 24 percent year-on-year. It also saw growth on its service charges, fees and commissions, driven by revenues from its investment banking, credit card and trust businesses.
BoC had a network of 140 branches and 250 automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide as of March 31, 2024.