Century Properties raises P2.7B in maiden bond float

MANILA, Philippines - Century Properties Group Inc. completed yesterday its debut in the bond market, raising P2.7 billion to fund its upcoming residential and commercial developments.

The property firm listed its P2.7-billion bonds due 2017, 2020 and 2021 in the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), the country’s fixed income trading platform.

“We are grateful for the success of our maiden bond issuance and the confidence accorded to us by the investing public. This is a testament to the company’s sound financial management and profitable business model,” said Jose Antonio, chairman of Century Properties.

The listed property arm of the Antonio family said proceeds from the maiden retail bond offering will be used to partly finance capital expenditures for select residential and commercial projects with completion dates ranging from 2017 to 2019.

The projects which are expected to benefit from the fresh funds will have a total of over 3,400 residential units and over 300,000 square meters of gross floor area, the company said.

“Not only will the bonds enable us to diversify our funding sources, it also helps us get a step closer towards our goal of building a bigger and more diversified company,” Antonio said.

Century Properties initially targeted to raise P2 billion from the bond offering but strong demand pushed the company to increase the amount to a total P2.7 billion.

The unsecured fixed rate peso bonds were offered in three-year, five-year, and seven-year tranches with interest rates of sixpercent, 6.6878 percent, and 6.9758 percent per annum, respectively.

BDO Capital & Investment Corp. served was the issue manager for the transaction, while BDO and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. served as joint lead underwriters and bookrunners.

Century Properties is spending more than P12 billion in the next five years for several residential buildings in Metro Manila.

The listed real estate firm seeks to complete a total of 31 residential buildings and amass a commercial portfolio of over 160,000 square meters by 2019.

By yearend, the company will turn over Centuria Medical Makati, a 28-story outpatient medical building which has both for sale and for lease medical IT units.