DoubleDragon rates retail bond offering at an 'auspicious' 8.008%

MANILA, Philippines— DoubleDragon (DD) Corporation, a commercial and residential real estate development company, has priced its retail bond offering at 8.008% per annum.

In a statement, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has authorized DD to issue bonds to investors for the next three and a half years as its founder and chairman Edgar “Injap” Sia II said that they have an “auspicious” rate.

“We are glad to tap the Peso Retail Bond market again after over 5 years. We believe that the Pricing of this DD Retail Bond Offering at 8.008% will enable a wide range of people to avail of the good coupon rate for a Triple-A rated retail bond and given the minimum investment size of only 50,000 pesos,” he said.

“On top of that, 8 is also believed by many to be an auspicious or 'swerte' (lucky) number and having two 8's in the coupon rate could be even more auspicious,” Sia added.

The DD chief noted that the public's involvement in a retail bond offering at an 8.008% coupon rate would be significant. 

According to him, the company is approaching a level of financial strength similar to a blue-chip company, indicating robust assets, manageable liabilities and a strong equity position soon.

Furthermore, Sia has observed that the global high-interest cycle is beginning to transition into a period of declining interest rates.

Last month, the firm’s total equity was seen to exceed P100 billion this year which would make it one of the few companies in the country to have a 12-digit equity level.

“[We] happen to be one of the very few companies that has not only positioned a diversified hard asset portfolio spread out across the Philippines. It also happens to be one of the very few that has organically developed a novel asset-light concept and highly unique business model in Hotel101 (HBnB) that is portable and exportable to other continents globally,” DoubleDragon stated.

The real estate firm is one of the country’s few companies that was able to develop a unique business model and brand in Hotel101 that can be exported internationally.

“The export of Hotel101 is expected to eventually become one of the major United States Dollar inflow generators to the Philippine economy,” it added.

Likewise, the hotel’s global listing in the US would solidify the company’s balance sheet.

The company’s latest consolidated net income recorded yearend of 2023 increased by 23.25% at P15.93 billion while its overall revenues were at P24.74 billion.

In that same period, the total assets have gone up to P181.24 billion, which is a 15.59% increase year-on-year.

The overall equity also jumped to 15.88% to P94.57 billion, posing a healthy debt-to-equity ratio throughout last year.