Ayala to offer up to P30B in bonds

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. plans to raise as much as P30 billion in fresh funds for expansion and refinancing through a public offering of corporate bonds over a three-year period.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Ayala said its board had approved the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of a shelf registration for up to P30 billion worth of debt securities to be sold through public offerings.

“The board approval was sought to provide our treasurer full flexibility in raising funds. Any funds raised will most likely be used to fund new investments that might arise and maturing debt,” Ayala chief finance officer Teodoro Jose Limcaoco said in a text message.

The shelf registration window of the SEC allows issuers like Ayala to register and sell under the same prospectus and other regulatory filing requirements a certain volume of securities that the company does not intend to use up right away. In the event that the oversubscription option is not fully exercised, the unused portion will be made part of the remaining bonds in the shelf to be used within a three-year period.

Ayala is growing its core property, banking and telecommunication businesses while scaling up social and hard infrastructure investments as part its thrust to align its corporate goals to the development needs of the country.

In the last five years, the group spent about P720 billion for its traditional and emerging businesses. For this year, the group has set a capex budget of P185 billion.

The group is now contributing to the country’s energy requirements through AC Energy and providing transport systems through AC Infrastructure. Through AC Health and AC Education, the components of its social infrastructure investments, Ayala is also expanding its reach to the low-income segment with affordable products and services.

Ayala also seeks to expand its footprint in the Southeast Asian region to take advantage of regional integration and greater interconnectivity. It aims to generate 10 percent of equity earnings from international investments by 2020.

It aims to diversify its revenue stream and double net profit to P50 billion by 2020. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA