PBCom kicks off first bond issuance

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCom) is raising at least P2 billion through its maiden peso bond issuance, with an option to oversubscribe.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, PBCom said it would offer the fixed-rate bonds from Oct. 14 to Oct. 28, subject to any adjustments imposed.

The bonds will be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. platform on Nov. 5.

The bonds will be issued under the bank’s P15 billion bond program. It has a tenor of 1.5-years and a fixed interest rate of 6.0796 percent per annum.

“Proceeds from this bond issuance will be utilized for general corporate purposes, including refinancing debt obligations, diversifying funding sources and supporting loan growth,” the listed bank said.

PBCom tapped ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch as the sole arranger and bookrunner, with both PBCOM and ING serving as the selling agents. It also appointed the Development Bank of the Philippines – Trust Banking Group as the trustee.

PBCom saw its net income grow by 16.1 percent to P532.3 million in the second quarter from P458.56 million in the same period last year. This brought its earnings for the first half to P1.03 billion, 2.8-percent higher than the P999.96 million a year ago.

As of June, PBCom’s total assets rose by 12.2 percent to P148.7 billion year on year. Loans and Receivables also saw double-digit growth, reaching P90 billion in the first half.

The bank has 89 regular branches, four branch-lite units and 166 ATMs as of June.

The bank secured a universal banking license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas last February 2022, upgrading its status to a universal bank from a commercial bank.