Robinsons Bank raises P4.18B via deposit notes offering

JG Summit’s commercial banking arm, Robinsons Bank Corp., raised P4.18 billion in fresh funds through the issuance of long-term negotiable certificates of time deposit (LTNCDs), marking its debut in the local debt market.

Robinsons Bank director Omar Mier told reporters during the listing of the LTNCDs on the fixed income trading platform Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) on Friday that proceeds from the LTNCD offering would fund one or two big commercial loans and boost the bank’s car and housing financing activities.

Mier expects the P4.18-billion LTNCDs to be disbursed at a very fast pace, suggesting confidence on loan demand.

The offering was oversubscribed by P1.2 billion from the approved issuance of P3 billion by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The LTNCDs, issued on June 16, carried a tenor of 5.5 years. They will mature on Dec. 16, 2022.

Compared to regular time deposits, LTNCTDs offer higher interest rates and have relatively longer maturities. The certificates of time deposit are also covered by Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) for up to P500,000 per depositor, subject to PDIC rules.

The arranger and selling agent for the offering was BPI Capital Corp. while Robinsons Bank itself acted as selling agent.

With the bank’s LTNCD offering, the JG Summit group’s combined outstanding securities listed on PDEx reached P46.2 billion, representing 6.5 percent of the total corporate fixed-income issues in this registered market.

For 2017, Robinsons Bank plans to roll out eight branches which are all still pending approval by banking regulators. By next year, the bank plans to open additional branches in Metro Manila and in the provinces.

Robinsons Bank is also set to enter the stock market.

“We would have to grow our capital base to about P15 billion. I would say in three or four years, we will tap the stock market,” Mier said.

The listing of Robinsons Bank’s LTNCDs marked the 14th listing of fixed income securities on PDEx for the year, bringing the total level of listings this year to P107.28 billion, an increase of 440 percent from the same period last year. This brought the total level of tradable corporate debt instruments at PDEx to P713.84 billion consisting of 122 securities issued by 45 companies.—ODELINNE JAN LINA