Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-largest lender in terms of assets, said Friday it increased its latest bond offering to P33.9 billion from the initial target size of P5 billion amid the strong demand from investors.
BPI said in a statement it decided to close the offering period on March 6, 2020, or 11 days ahead of the original schedule on March 17.
It said the decision was based on the consolidated order book having reached over P42 billion despite being priced at the tightest end of the indicative pricing range.
“We thank our investors and clients who supported this bond offer despite the volatile market conditions caused by the COVID-19 situation,” BPI treasurer Dino Gasmen said.
“The issuance will help us deliver the financial services that our fellow Filipinos need during this difficult time,” he said.
The bonds have been issued and are now tradable on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. The bonds have an interest rate of 4.05 percent per annum payable quarterly, and a tenor of one and a half years.
BPI Capital Corp. and ING Bank N.V., Manila branch served as the joint lead arrangers of the bonds. BPI Capital was sole selling agent, while ING was the participating selling agent.
BPI remains one of the largest lenders in terms of assets, deposits, loans and network coverage.
BPI’s net income jumped 25 percent in 2019 to P28.80 billion from P23.08 billion in 2018, driven by the strength of its core businesses.
Net interest margin increased to 3.35 percent from 3.11 percent a year earlier. Higher fee-based income and securities trading gains boosted its non-interest income by 25.2 percent to P28.39 billion.
Operating expenses reached P50.08 billion, up 14.8 percent from the previous year’s figure, while cost-to-income ratio fell to 53.1 percent from 55.5 percent a year earlier. Julito G. Rada
Loans extended to consumers, corporates, and small and medium enterprises rose 8.9 percent to P1.48 trillion.
Meanwhile, total deposits increased 6.9 percent year-on-year to P1.70 trillion. Total assets grew 5.7 percent to P2.21 trillion with return on assets of 1.38 percent.