EastWest Bank eyes P30 billion bond offering

MANILA, Philippines — East West Banking Corp. is raising up to P30 billion through the issuance of bonds in the next five years to support asset growth, diversify funding sources and refinance maturing obligations.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Gotianun-led bank said its board of directors approved the request of its Treasury Group to issue up to P30 billion bonds over a period of five years.

“The bank intends to use the proceeds of the issuance to support asset growth, diversify funding sources, and re-finance maturing liabilities, as well as for other general funding purposes,” EastWest said.

After getting the green light from its board of directors, the listed bank is set to inform the PSE, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The bank last tapped the domestic bond market in February 2020 when it raised P3.7 billion via the issuance of fixed-rate bonds as part of its P10-billion bond program established in June 2020. The bonds matured in February.

The bank also tapped the debt market in 2018 when it raised P2.45 billion through the issuance of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposits due in December this year.

The earnings of EastWest more than doubled to P3.3 billion in the first half   from a year-ago level of P1.52 billion, driven primarily by sustained momentum from its lending portfolio.

EastWest president Jackie Fernandez earlier said the ramping-up initiatives of the bank’s consumer lending portfolio that started last year are now showing results.

“While we have surpassed our pre-pandemic peak loan levels this quarter, the work is not complete as we focus on optimizing our balance sheet structure to unlock more value,” Fernandez said.

The bank reported a 29-percent jump in net revenues to P16.3 billion in the first half from P12.7 billion in the same period last year as net interest income increased by 18 percent.

Its loan book surged by 22 percent to P273.6 billion as the bank deployed excess liquidity toward higher-yielding consumer loans, while its deposit base was flat at P335.1 billion.

The bank’s total assets inched up by 4.6 percent to P434 billion, while capital ratios continue to stand at a healthy 14 percent and 13.2 percent for capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio, respectively.

EastWest is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the flagship company of the Gotianun family with a diverse range of interests including real estate, banking, hospitality and tourism, infrastructure, power generation and sugar.