Metrobank raises P19B from latest bond offering

Ty family-led Metropolitan Bank (Metrobank) & Trust Co. yesterday listed on the local fixed income trading platform P19 billion of its latest bond float, the seventh and final tranche of a P100-billion bond and commercial paper program.

The bonds have a tenor of 5.25 years and a coupon of 3.6 percent with quarterly interest payments. “We are thankful to our investors for their confidence and support. The strong demand allowed us to end the offer period early, with orders almost two times of what we initially targeted, and at a much tighter spread to benchmark than what we had expected,” Metrobank treasury group head Angelica Reyes said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.

“Our investors are assured that they can count on Metrobank to continue providing meaningful banking service and be worthy of the trust they have given us,” Reyes added.

The peso-denominated fixed rate bonds were listed on the Philippine Dealing Exchange.

First Metro Investment Corp. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. acted as the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners of the offer. Metrobank, together with the joint lead managers and joint bookrunners, was also a selling agent.

Metrobank set up its P100-billion bond and commercial program in 2018. It was the first local bank to issue bonds under Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circulars 975 and 1010, which allowed banks to tap the domestic capital market as an alternative funding source.

One of the country’s leading banks, Metrobank ended March with an asset base of P2.4 trillion and total equity of P306.6 billion. Its total capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.9 percent of risk assets while common equity tier 1 capital ratio stood at 19 percent, both well above regulatory levels. —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla