PNB to start dollar bond issuance

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Bank (PNB) is returning to the offshore debt market as it plans to start a series of fixed income investor meetings on Monday.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PNB said it has mandated ING Bank and J.P. Morgan as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners to arrange the investor meetings on Oct. 14.

“A dollar-denominated benchmark-sized sustainability regulation S offering of five-year senior notes under PNB’s $2-billion euro medium-term note (EMTN) program may follow, subject to market conditions,” the Lucio Tan-led bank said.

The bank added that PNB Capital is the sole global coordinator in relation to the EMTN program.

Last month, PNB president Florido Casuela told reporters that the bank is eyeing to issue dollar-denominated bonds in the fourth quarter, with the bank targeting a release in November or December.

He said the issuance comes as part of the bank’s strategy to manage upcoming bond maturities and raise capital to support its initiatives.

Earlier in May, PNB said it was looking to return to the offshore debt market this year to raise at least $300 million from the issuance of dollar bonds. The bank also updated its euro medium-term note program to $2 billion from $1 billion previously.

In June 2019, PNB raised $750 million from the offshore debt market via the issuance of fixed rate senior notes, with the fundraising activity heavily oversubscribed.

The bank was originally raising at least $300 million to beef up its capital base and bankroll its expansion program, but the order book reached $3.25 billion.

The bank has also raised P13.87 billion via the maiden offering of fixed-rate peso-denominated bonds in May 2019. The two-year bonds due 2021 were three times oversubscribed, as the original volume of the issuance was only P5 billion.

PNB saw its income rising by 6.2 percent to P10.3 billion in the first half from P9.7 billion a year ago as the lender beefed up its core banking activities.

The bank’s total assets increased by four percent to P1.26 trillion as of end-June from the previous quarter due to higher loans and treasury assets.