Bank of Commerce (BankCom), the banking arm of San Miguel Corporation, successfully listed its maiden issuance of P7.5 billion 2-year Series A Bonds on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), with aggregate order book exceeding the original target issue size by more than three times.
The strong demand prompted BankCom to increase its issue size from the original P3 billion to P7.5 billion and end the offer period on July 12, 2022, ten days ahead of the original closing date.
“The overwhelming response from both institutional and retail investors on our first ever Peso bond issuance underscores the market’s confidence in BankCom’s performance and our growth potential,” President and Chief Executive Officer Michelangelo Aguilar said.
BankCom’s bond was offered on July 11, 2022 at a coupon rate of 5.0263 percent per annum due 2024. Minimum denominations were set for P100,000 and increments of P50,000 thereafter. The bonds were listed on July 29, 2022 in PDEx.
The maiden issuance forms part of the bank’s P20 billion Bond Program. Proceeds from this issuance will be used to match long-term assets with long-term funding to reduce the Bank’s interest rate risk.
“Diversifying our sources of funding will provide stability to propel loan growth in the corporate, SME and consumer sectors and effectively manage our net interest margin,” Aguilar added.
As of March 31, 2022, BankCom’s Total Assets stood at P206.38 billion, up by 5.63 percent from P195.39 billion the previous March.
During the same period, Loans and Receivables, which comprised the bulk, yielded a double-digit growth of 16.29 percent year-on-year from P72.81 billion in March 2021 to P84.67 billion as of March this year.
