BPI secures P36.7B from bond offer after huge order

MANILA  -Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) raised P36.7 billion from the sale of fixed-rate bonds after noting “incredible” demand from buyers, prompting the Ayala Group’s banking arm to increase the offer size by over seven times.

BPI, the country’s third-biggest lender, said the 1.5-year bonds, which will pay an interest rate of 6.425 percent a year, were listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on Monday.

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“Our business continues to thrive mainly because of the strong trust our customers, investors and stakeholders have in what we do. We thank our investors for the incredible demand in our issuance, as this will greatly support our push to expand our digitalization efforts and diversify our funding sources,” BPI treasurer Dino Gasmen said in a separate statement.

The bonds were issued under the second tranche of the lender’s P100-billion bond program. BPI earlier announced an initial issue size of P5 billion plus an option to increase the offer in case of strong demand.

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“The net proceeds of the offer will be used for general corporate purposes, including funding source diversification,” BPI said.