BPI to offer up to $2-B medium term notes

BANK of the Philippine Islands (BPI) said it has been authorized by its board to establish an up to $2 billion dollar-denominated medium-term note (MTN) program, with the notes to be listed in Singapore.
BPI said in a filing on Friday that the MTN program will help the bank “maximize flexibility in accessing funding expediently.”
BPI has tapped BPI Capital as sole global coordinator and lead arranger for the program, while Deutsche Bank, HSBC and J.P. Morgan will serve as joint lead arrangers.
The arrangers, along with BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, ING, Mizuho Securities, MUFG, Standard Chartered Bank, UBS and Wells Fargo Securities, were appointed as dealers.
Philippine National Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. have also tapped the foreign debt market recently, raising $300 million and $150 million, respectively, from medium-term note facilities.
In April, BPI raised P50 billion through a rights offer, selling 558.7 million common sharesat P89.50 per share.
Proceeds from the fund-raising activity will be used to finance its digitalization program, expand its retail loan portfolio and put up more branches.
BPI, the third-largest bank in the country in terms of assets, booked a net profit of P6.25 billion in the first quarter, little changed from a year earlier, due to lower trading gains. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal