SECURITY BANK Corp. may soon launch a bond offering after it doubled the size of its peso fundraising program to P200 billion, it said on Tuesday.
“Please be informed that Security Bank, through its Executive Committee, as delegated by the Board of Directors, approved today the increase in the bank’s peso bond and commercial papers program size from P100 billion to P200 billion,” the listed lender said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.
“An issuance may follow, subject to market conditions,” Security Bank added.
No further details were available as of press time.
Security Bank last tapped the domestic bond market in July last year, where it raised P18.5 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate peso corporate bonds due 2025.
The bonds were priced at 6.425% per annum.
The issuance was the bank’s largest to date, with the total amount raised more than double the minimum size of P8 billion.
Proceeds from the issuance were used to diversify the bank’s funding sources and support its lending activities.
Meanwhile, Security Bank returned to the offshore debt market after almost five years last month, raising $400 million from an offering of five-year dollar-denominated notes.
Proceeds from the issuance will be used to extend the bank’s term liabilities, expand its funding base, improve liquidity gaps, fund investments and for other general corporate purposes, the lender previously said.
The bonds were priced at 5.5%, 110 basis points above the benchmark US Treasury yield.
Orders for the notes reached more than $1.5 billion. The bonds were issued out of the bank’s $1-billion medium-term note program established on Aug. 29, 2018.
Security Bank’s net income rose by 11.4% to P2.63 billion in the first quarter amid growth in the bank’s retail and micro, small, and medium enterprise businesses.
Its shares closed at P65.15 apiece on Tuesday, down by P1 or 1.51% from the previous day’s finish. — AMCS
