Robinsons Bank raising P5B via debt market

Gokongwei-led Robinsons Bank has returned to the local debt market with an offering of as much as P5 billion worth of high-yielding deposits, proceeds from which will fund the bank’s aspiration to becoming one of the country’s leading banks.

The long-term negotiable certificates of deposit (LTNCD) will have a tenor of 5.5 years and carry an interest rate of 4.875 percent per annum, payable on a quarterly basis. The LTNCDs are offered to the public at a minimum denomination of P50,000 and multiples of P10,000 thereafter.

ING Bank NV acts as the sole lead arranger for this offering, which started Thursday and will run until July 9. The target settlement and listing date on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. is on July 16.

LTNCDs are negotiable certificates of time deposits and are tax-exempt for qualified individuals if held for at least five years. They are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. up to a maximum coverage, currently at P500,000, per depositor.

These bank products target investors looking for a higher interest rate compared to regular savings accounts or shorter-term deposits.

In an investors briefing yesterday, Robinsons Bank president Elfren Antonio Sarte said this LTNCD offering would complement the bank’s upcoming capital buildup program. With a growth projection of 30 percent annually, Sarte said it was raising funds to expand its loan book, including its credit card portfolio.

This July, the bank’s key shareholders—JG Summit Holdings and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.—would infuse P3 billion in fresh capital to Robinsons Bank.

Its board has likewise approved an increase in authorized capital stock to P27 billion from P15 billion to allow the bank to “ramp up for growth strategy and give room to broader opportunities,” Sarte said.

Robinsons Bank chair Lance Gokongwei said prospective investors of LTNCD would benefit from a “strong shareholder base, committed and experienced management, sound financial performance, synergy with the retail and other Gokongwei business groups alongside strong growth prospects.”

Gokongwei said the group had been overwhelmed by strong market reception to Robinsons Bank’s maiden LTNCD offering last year, raising P4.2 billion. The bank’s 2020 road map aims for further expansion of assets to P200 billion. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA