MANILA, Philippines — Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has raised $350 million of five-year senior unsecured fixed rate sustainability notes as investors swarmed its bond offering during its return to the offshore bond market.
The issuance was part of the bank’s $4-billion medium term note program. The lender said proceeds from the offer would be used to finance or refinance RCBC’s loans to customers or its own operating activities in eligible green and social categories under its Sustainable Finance Framework.
“The transaction saw strong interest from a wide range of high quality Asian and European investors, which allowed the bank to tighten final price guidance to 115 basis points over the five-year Treasury yield,” RCBC said.
This marked a 30-basis-point reduction from the initial guidance. “This is the tightest pricing spread achieved among RCBC’s dollar senior unsecured issuances,” the bank said.
The bonds were priced at 99.279 with a coupon of 5.375 percent per annum, maturing on Jan. 29, 2030.
According to RCBC, the transaction saw robust interest from 77 investor accounts, resulting in an order book exceeding $1 billion, or 2.9 times the offering size.
Allocation was diversified across regions and investor types, with 57 percent going to asset managers, 38 percent to banks and five percent to insurance companies and private banks.
The notes, rated Baa3 by Moody’s, will settle on Jan. 28 and be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. The denomination starts at $200,000, with increments of $1,000 thereafter.
RCBC initiated the bond offering on Jan. 20, 2025, with investor calls facilitated by joint lead managers ING Bank N.V. Singapore Branch, Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc and SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd.
The notes’ tight pricing and strong reception reflect sustained global investor confidence in RCBC’s creditworthiness and sustainable finance initiatives.
In January 2024, the bank raised $400 million from its return to the offshore debt market after over three years as investors swarmed its sustainability note issuance. The bank issued five-year senior unsecured fixed rate sustainability bonds under its then-$3 billion medium term note program, with a coupon rate of 5.5 percent per annum.
RCBC earlier reported a net profit of P6.22 billion in the first nine months of 2024, 31.1 percent lower compared to the P9.03 billion recorded in the comparable period a year ago.