RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp. (RCBC) is set to raise fresh funds via five-year dollar-denominated unsecured sustainability notes that will be issued next week.
“Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. has announced terms for US dollar unsecured Reg sustainability notes due 2030,” the Yuchengco-led bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Tuesday.
“The notes will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd. The pricing is expected during European trading hours today.”
The announcement follows a series of investor calls held by the bank on Monday to market the issue.
The benchmark-sized issuance has a tenor of five years and one day and will carry a fixed-rate coupon payable semi-annually.
The initial price guidance was set at 145 basis points (bps) above the five-year US Treasury yield.
The notes will be offered at minimum denominations of $200,000 and increments of $1,000.
They will be issued on Jan. 28, RCBC said.
“The net proceeds from the issue of the notes will be applied by RCBC to support and finance and/or refinance the RCBC’s loans to customers or its own operating activities in eligible green and social categories as defined in RCBC’s Sustainable Finance Framework,” the bank said.
RCBC appointed ING Bank N.V.-Singapore Branch, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and SMBC Nikko Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd. as the joint bookrunners for the offering.
Allen Overy Shearman Sterling LLP was appointed as international legal counsel, while Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles is the domestic legal counsel. P&A Grant Thornton was also tapped as the auditor for the offer.
The dollar-denominated sustainability notes will be issued out of RCBC’s $4-billion medium-term note (MTN) program.
RCBC in October upsized its MTN program from $3 billion. Its last issuance under its offshore fundraising program was made in January 2024, when it raised $400 million from an offering of five-year senior unsecured sustainability notes. That issue marked RCBC’s return to the overseas debt market after over three years.
RCBC Chief Executive Officer Eugene S. Acevedo in November said the bank is looking to tap both the foreign and domestic debt markets on a regular basis as part of their new funding strategy to maintain a steady supply of papers.
The bank’s net income decreased by 37.01% to P1.77 billion in the third quarter of 2024. This brought its net profit for the first nine months of 2024 to P6.22 billion, 31.12% lower year on year.
RCBC shares closed unchanged at P24.05 each on Tuesday. — A.M.C. Sy
