Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) returned to the overseas bond market with the issuance of $350 million worth of 5-year senior unsecured fixed-rate sustainability bonds.
RCBC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday the notes, rated Baa3 by Moody’s, would be issued at a coupon of 5.375 percent per annum and a maturity date of January 2030.
The offering was 2.9-times oversubscribed, with order book reaching over $1 billion.
“The transaction saw strong interest from a wide range of high-quality Asian and European investors, which allowed the bank to tighten final price guidance to 115 bps over the 5-year Treasury yield,” RCBC said.
The notes also saw orders from more than 77 accounts, reflecting global investors’ continued confidence in RCBC and its credit.
The order book was well diversified, with 57 percent allocated to asset managers, 38 percent to banks and 5 percent to insurance companies and private banks.
RCBC said it would use the net proceeds to finance and/or refinance the bank’s loans to customers or its own operating activities in eligible green and social categories.
The notes will be issued from the bank’s $4-billion medium term note program in line with its sustainable finance framework.
The lender in 2024 increased the size of its medium-term bond program to $4 billion from $3 billion previously.
The notes will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited, similar to the bank’s other two outstanding USD-denominated bonds.
The bank earlier mandated ING N.V. Singapore Branch, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Limited as joint book runners for the offering.
RCBC is the first Philippine company to tap the overseas bond market this year. In January 2024, RCBC also raised $400 million from the sale of debt papers.