BDO raises record P63 billion from bond offer

MANILA, Philippines — BDO Unibank Inc. raised a record P63.3 billion from its bond issuance, as retail and institutional investors swarmed the bank’s second foray into the ASEAN sustainability bond market after almost two years.

This was the largest single bond issuance by BDO, surpassing its first ASEAN sustainability bonds issue in January 2022 that raised P52.7 billion.

The amount was almost 12.7 times the original size of P5 billion, as the offer period was shortened by a week amid the rapid build-up in orders from retail and institutional investors.

The 1.5-year peso-denominated sustainability bonds, with a coupon rate of 6.025 percent, were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) yesterday.

Standard Chartered Bank served as sole arranger, while BDO and Standard Chartered Bank acted as selling agents. BDO Capital & Investment Corp. was the financial advisor for the issuance.

According to BDO, the net proceeds of the issuance are intended to diversify the bank’s funding sources, and finance or refinance eligible assets as defined in its Sustainable Finance Framework.

The bank continues to tap the debt market depending on market demand. It has a P365-billion program in place, allowing it to offer peso-denominated securities from time to time as it deems necessary.

Through the bank’s sustainable finance desk, BDO has funded P781 billion in sustainable finance and a total of 58 renewable energy projects with total installed capacity of over 2,000MW as of end 2022.

According to BDO, it has stopped financing new coal projects since 2019, and additionally committed to reduce coal exposure by 50 percent in 10 years, as disclosed in its Energy Transition Finance Statement in 2022.

BDO, the largest bank in terms of total assets, loans, deposits and trust funds under management, has over 1,700 consolidated operating branches and more than 4,800 ATMs nationwide.

It also has 16 international offices, including full-service branches in Hong Kong and Singapore in Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.