Robinsons Bank raises P4.2B from deposit offer

In the photo from left are BPI Capital Corporation Senior Vice President Rhoda A. Huang, Robinsons Bank Treasurer and Treasury Group Head Ma. Regina N. Lumain, Robinsons Bank Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Angelito V. Evangelista, Robinsons Bank Director Omar Byron T. Mier, PDS Group President and CEO Cesar B. Crisol, and Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. President and COO Antonino A. Nakpil.

The JG Summit group’s commercial banking arm Robinsons Bank Corp. raised P4.18 billion in fresh funds from the issuance of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposit (LTNCDs), marking its debut into the local debt market.

Robinsons Bank director Omar Mier told reporters during the listing of the LTNCDs on fixed income trading platform Philippine Dealing& Exchange Corp. (PDEx) on Friday that proceeds from the LTNCD offering would fund one or two big commercial loans and likewise boost the bank’s car and housing financing activities.

Mier expects the P4.18-billion LTNCDs to be disbursed at a very fast pace, suggesting confidence on loan demand.

The offering was oversubscribed by P1.2 billion from the approved issuance of P3 billion by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The LTNCDs, issued on June 16, carried a a tenor of 5.5 years. They will mature on Dec. 16, 2022.

LTNCTDs, like regular time deposits, offer higher interest rates and have relatively longer maturities. The certificates of time deposit are also covered by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) for up to P500,000 per depositor, subject to PDIC rules.

The arranger and selling agent for the offering was BPI Capital Corp. while Robinsons Bank itself acted as selling agent.

With Robinsons Bank’s LTNCD offering, the JG Summit group’s combined level of outstanding securities listed on PDEx reached P46.2 billion, representing 6.5 percent of the total corporate fixed-income issues in this registered market.

For 2017, Robinsons Bank plans to roll out eight branches which are all still pending approval by banking regulators. By next year, the bank plans to open additional branches in Metro Manila as well as in provincial areas.

Robinsons Bank is also in line to enter the stock market following its parent company, JG Summit.

“We would have to grow our capital base to about P15 billion. I would say in three or four years, we will tap the stock market,” Mier said.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, the bank will launch its credit card business in partnership with Mastercard. It is also upgrading its online banking for the retail internet banking by rolling out a mobile application.

Robinsons Bank’s listing of LTNCDs marked 14th listing of fixed income securities on PDEx for the year, bringing the total level of listings this year to P107.28 billion, an increase of 440 percent from the same period last year. This also brought the total level of tradable corporate debt instruments at PDEx to P713.84 Billion consisting of 122 securities issued by 45 companies.- ODELINNE JAN LINA