PNB seeks $300M from offshore bond offer

Tycoon Lucio Tan-led Philippine National Bank plans to raise at least $300 million from a new offshore bond offering, which will be launched not later than the third quarter of this year.

This is part of PNB’s $1-billion euro medium-term note program that was established last year, the bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

“We continue to focus on the bank’s build-up of assets,” PNB president Wick Veloso explained.

“The proceeds are going to be used to help fund the growth,” he added.

Such a medium-term notes program allows an issuer to have constant cash flow coming in from its debt issuance and tailor its borrowing to its financing needs. These notes allow the issuer to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) only once, using the shelf registration window, instead of doing the paperwork every time for differing maturities.

Asked about the likely tenor of the offering, Veloso said it would likely be 5.5 years.

PNB earlier boosted its lending machinery with proceeds from a P13.87-billion local bond debut and a $250-million new syndicated loan facility. Later this year, PNB also plans to raise around P12 billion in fresh equity from the sale of new shares to existing shareholders.

The bank’s total resources breached the P1-trillion mark as of end-March. It also reported a consolidated net income of P1.9 billion for the first three months, 30 percent higher compared to the period last year. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA