MANILA, Philippines - Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) of taipan Alfonso Yuchengco has raised $280 million as it received strong lending commitments from international lenders.
RCBC informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday it has closed and signed a three-year syndicated loan facility with a diverse group of international banks.
“The facility generated strong interest during general syndication and was oversubscribed prompting RCBC to upsize the facility to $280 million from the initial size of $200 million,” the bank said in a statement.
RCBC said lending commitments were received from 18 international lenders distributed across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East including many first time participants in RCBC’s syndicated loans.
The publicly listed bank intends to use the proceeds of the loan for general banking and corporate purposes.
Deutsche Bank AG and ING Bank served as lead arrangers, underwriters, and bookrunners.
Earnings of RCBC went up by 25 percent to P2.53 billion in the first half of the year fromP2.02 billion in the same period last year on the back of the bank’s expanding lending business.
RCBC reported its net interest income reached P7.45 billion and accounted for 63 percent of the bank’s gross income of P11.8 billion.
It said its 4.2 percent annualized net interest margin remains one of the highest in the banking sector.
Furthermore, the bank said its loan book excluding interbank loans grew 18 percent to P275.7 billion. The interest income from its lending business contributed 83 to the bank’s total interest income.
The bank booked a 20 percent increase in corporate loans as well as an 18 percent rise in consumer loans.
Likewise, loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) surged 30 percent in the first half, while microfinance lending through Rizal Microbank zoomed 46 percent.
Amid the strong growth of its lending business, RCBC said its asset quality remained well-managed as it booked a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 0.24 percent, while parent bank NPL cover stood strong at 159.13 percent.
RCBC reported a 50.2 percent increase in other operating income to P4.3 billion in the first half.
Securities trading gains contributed P1.72 billion, while total fee-based and miscellaneous income went up by 23 percent to P2.53 billion. Investment banking-related income jumped 198 percent while earnings from bancassurance zoomed 148 percent.
The bank reported a nine percent increase in total operating expenses to P7.4 billion from January to June.
RCBC’s total deposits amounted to P321.9 billion as total number of accounts expanded to 6.9 million in the first half from 6.3 million in the same period last year.