BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s biggest lender controlled by the Sy family, started on Monday the offering period for P5 billion worth of fixed-rate bonds in a bid to support lending business and diversify funding sources.
BDO said in a statement Monday the issuance was a component of the P100-billion bond program approved by its board of directors in August last year.
“This follows the P35-billion fixed-rate bond issuance in February 2019, and is part of the bank’s continuing efforts to diversify its funding sources and support its lending activities,” BDO said.
The bonds will have a tenor of two-and-a-half years and will be priced at 4.408 percent. Interest will be paid quarterly, calculated on a 30/360 count basis. The minimum investment is P100,000 with increments of P50,000.
The offering period will run from Jan. 20, 2020 to Jan. 24, 2020, with the issue date targeted on Feb. 3, 2020. The bank reserves the right to adjust the timing of the offering as needed.
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. is the sole lead arranger and book-runner of the issue, while BDO Unibank Inc., BDO Private Bank Inc., and HSBC are the selling agents.
BDO is a full-service universal bank that provides a wide range of corporate and retail banking services.
Net income in the first nine months of 2019 jumped 49.3 percent to P32.1 billion from P21.5 billion a year ago, largely driven by the expansion in recurring core revenues. The profit translated into a return on common equity of 12.5 percent, significantly higher from 9.5 percent in the same period in 2018.
Customer loans increased 6 percent year-on-year to P2.1 trillion, led by the sustained growth in the middle-market and consumer segments. Meanwhile, total deposits rose 3 percent to P2.4 trillion, with low-cost current account/savings account or CASA deposits increasing by 6 percent and accounted for 72 percent of total deposits.
Net interest income rose year on year to P88.5 billion, with net interest margins further improving in the third quarter.