UNION Bank of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) has raised a combined P16 billion from its offering of dual-tranche fixed-rate peso bonds, above the P10-billion plan.
The bonds will be listed on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on June 26 (Thursday), the bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange. The issue marks UnionBank’s successful return to the domestic capital markets after nearly two years.
Broken down, the bank raised P9.2507 billion from the 1.5-year Series H bonds, which are priced at 5.88% per annum.
It also raised P6.7943 billion from the three-year Series I bonds that carry an interest rate of 6.02% per annum.
“The offering saw strong interest from institutional and retail investors, with both tranches exceeding their initial targets of P5 billion each,” UnionBank said.
“Proceeds from the issuance shall be used to extend term liabilities, expand funding base, support business expansion plans, and for other general corporate purposes.”
The bonds were sold at a minimum investment amount of P100,000 and increments of P50,000 thereafter.
They will be issued out of UnionBank’s P100-billion peso bond program, which was expanded from the original P50 billion in February.
ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch, Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc, and Standard Chartered Bank were the joint lead arrangers and bookrunners for the transaction. They were also the selling agents for the offer together with UnionBank.
UnionBank last tapped the domestic bond market in December 2023, raising a total of P18.168 billion from an offering of 1.5-year and three-year senior bonds. This was higher than the planned combined issue size of at least P2 billion, or P1 billion for each tenor.
UnionBank saw its attributable net income decline by 28.93% year on year to P1.4 billion in the first quarter due to one-time write-offs from a subsidiary and front-loaded non-recurring costs.
The bank’s shares dropped by 40 centavos or 1.23% to end at P32.10 apiece on Wednesday. — A.M.C. Sy
