Metrobank secures PSE nod to raise P32B

The Philippine Stock Exchange has approved a plan of local banking giant Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. to raise as much as P32 billion from the sale of new shares to existing shareholders.

The stock rights offer will run from March 23 to 27 this year. The offering will be priced on March 10, while the listing date has been set for April 7.

Based on the indicative offer sheet, Metrobank plans to sell around 500 million shares with a par value of P20 a share. The rights shares will be taken out of the unissued capital of the bank.

Shareholders as of record date March 18 are eligible to subscribe to this offering.

The lead underwriters are First Metro Investment Corp., JP Morgan Securities Plc and UBS AG Hong Kong branch. HSBC Singapore branch is co-manager and co-underwriter.

The sale of new shares to existing investors will allow the bank to bring its tier 1 or core capital adequacy ratio to risk assets to 13 percent, even as it expands lending activities, Metrobank chair Arthur Ty earlier said.

This year, Metrobank expects to sustain a double-digit growth in lending.

As of end-September, the bank had a total capital adequacy ratio of 16.2 percent, and common equity tier 1 of 12.1 percent, both of which are well above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ requirement of 10 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively.

In September 2014, Metrobank’s total asset base expanded by 20 percent to P1.5 trillion from that of the previous year. Loan growth grew faster than expected at 21 percent year-on-year to P697 billion, supported by the 23-percent growth in deposits to P1.1 trillion over the same period.

The bank believes that the continued strengthening of the Philippine economy, a growing middle class, and low credit penetration has created attractive growth opportunities for the banking sector in general.