China Bank raises P15B

Sy family-led China Banking Corp. completed a P15-billion capital-raising from the recent sale of shares to existing shareholders.

Proceeds from the stock rights offering will be used to grow the bank’s loan portfolio, expand its branch network and support its other strategic business initiatives, the bank said in disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The rights offering was fully subscribed and led by major shareholder SM Group.

The additional 483.87 million common shares sold at P31 per share are listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange today (May 10, 2017).

JP Morgan Securities PLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. served as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. China Bank Capital Corp. acted as joint bookrunner, issue manager and domestic underwriter.

In the first quarter, China Bank posted a 6-percent year-on-year profit growth to P1.47 billion.
Operating income reached P5.66 billion, up 7 percent from year-ago level.
Net interest income expanded by 14 percent year-on-year to P4.47 billion in the first three months, driven by the 16 percent growth in gross loan portfolio.

Non-interest income excluding trading gains grew by 22 percent to P1.08 billion from the gain in service charges, fees from bank assurance, investment banking and trust, as well as income from asset sales.

Core recurring income—referring to operating income excluding trading gains—was up by 15 percent to P5.55 billion in the first quarter.