PSBank aims to raise P3B via notes offering

Metrobank’s thrift bank unit, Philippine Savings Bank, is raising up to P3 billion from a fresh offering of high-yielding deposit notes, boosting funds for business expansion.

In an official advisory, PSBank launched the offering of long-term negotiable certificates of deposits (LTNCDs) with a tenor of five years and three months.  The notes will carry an interest rate of 3.5 percent per year, to be paid on a quarterly basis.

“Proceeds of the issue will be used to diversify the bank’s funding sources and support business expansion,” PSBank senior vice president and treasurer Perfecto Ramon Dimayuga Jr. said in a text message Wednesday.

The bank’s LTNCD offering started on Jan. 10 and will run until Jan. 23 this year.

LTNCDs are time deposits that have longer maturity and are higher yielding than regular deposits. These instruments are negotiable and insured with Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. up to the maximum coverage of P500,000 per depositor.

Minimum placement is P50,000 and in increments of P50,000 thereafter.

The bank has tapped ING Bank as sole arranger and selling agent.  Other selling agents are PSBank, affiliate First Metro Investment Corp. and parent bank Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.

PSBank president Vicente Cuna Jr. had said the thrift bank was expected to grow at a faster pace this year, with net profit seen to grow by double-digit level on the back of the country’s strong economic growth momentum.

In the last five years, loans have been growing at double-digit pace and the same trend is seen to continue this year. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA