PNB improving liability management strategy

Lucio Tan group-led Philippine National Bank is setting up a $2-billion euro medium-term note program (MTN) for better liability management.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, PNB said its board had approved the creation of the MTN program.

MTN is a type of medium-term, flexible debt program that allows an issuer like PNB to tailor its debt issuance to meet its financing needs. A euro MTN is traded and issued outside of the United States and Canada.

The board had given authority to any two of its senior officers to select the arrangers, lead managers, bookrunners and comanagers as well as determine and negotiate the terms of the MTN issuance.

PNB posted consolidated net profit of P8.2 billion last year, 14 percent higher compared to the level in the previous year, on the back of growth in core operating income.

The bank’s net interest income increased by 13 percent from the previous year, driven mainly by the 17-percent expansion in its loan portfolio to P502.1 billion. Total deposits, on the other hand, rose by 12 percent to P637.9 billion.

As of end-2017, PNB’s total consolidated resources stood at P836.2 billion, up by 11 percent from last year’s level. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA