Property developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is finalizing a P14-billion sustainability linked-bonds with International Finance Corp. (IFC) to fund projects with sustainable features.
ALI chief finance officer Augusto Bengzon said in an interview at the sidelines of the company’s P6-billion ASEAN sustainable bond listing ceremony Thursday it is also in talks with IFC for P14-billion sustainability-linked bonds.
The P14 billion IFC loan will have a tenor of eight years, and IFC will be sole lender for the bonds.
Bengzon said the P6 billion worth of bonds listed with the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. and the P14 billion from IFC are part of ALI’s sustainability-linked program.
“So we are looking at P20 billion. The P6 billion is small, so another P14 billion is coming up. We are trying to close this within this week,” Bengzon said.
“Our developments have sustainable features, transport hubs, walkable CBDs, green features and circular waste management. We are borrowing money to build our developments, which have sustainability features embedded in them,” Bengzon said.
ALI vice president and treasurer Jose Eduardo Quimpo II said the rate for the IFC bonds would depend on the group’s ability to meet its sustainability commitments.
Quimpo said ALI is committed to having 1.5 million square meters of office space that are EDGE Zero Carbon-certified by 2025. It also plans to reduce by 42 percent the carbon emissions of its malls, office buildings and hotels by 2030.
“If we don’t meet these key performance indicators, the rate do step up by 5 basis points on an annual basis,” Quimpo said.
IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, also issues EDGE Zero Carbon certification.
Meanwhile, Bengzon said the P6 billion 10-year bond offering was more than three times oversubscribed with total demand reaching P16 billion. The bonds carry an interest rate of 6.9931 percent per annum.
The offering was supported by BDO Capital and Investments Corp., BPI Capital Corp., Chinabank Capital, Land Bank of the Philippines, RCBC Capital Corp. and SB Capital.
