Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said it paid a 5.25-percent $275 million senior unsecured bond without the need for refinancing as a part of the goal to reduce overall debt and cost of funding.
“RCBC’s solid liquidity position allowed it to completely satisfy this financial obligation. In addition to the bank’s significant liquidity position, lowering cost of funding was also a major consideration. Paying down higher cost debt is a key priority in light of this important objective,” RCBC president and chief executive Gil Buenaventura said.
He said moving forward, the bank would continue to be opportunistic in exploring low-cost funding alternatives.
The bank has one of the highest net interest margins among the peer banks. As of the first nine months of 2016, the annualized net interest margin of RCBC was 4.12 percent.
RCBC had total consolidated assets of P504.35 billion as of end-September 2016. The bank had 481 branches and 1,488 ATMs nationwide as of end-December.
RCBC is rated BB+ with a stable outlook by Fitch and Baa3 (or investment grade) with a stable outlook by Moody’s.