AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) is planning to issue P10-billion retail bonds to raise funds for general corporate use and repayment of maturing loans.

In a stock exchange disclosure on Friday, the listed property developer said its board of directors approved the plan to offer retail bonds under the company’s current shelf registration program.

“[T]he Board of Directors…approved…the raising of up to P10 billion through the issuance of retail bonds to partially finance general corporate requirements and to refinance maturing loans,” it said.

The bonds will be listed at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp.

The board also approved adding P25 billion to ALI’s current share buyback program, which would raise its available balance to P26.1 billion.

The share buyback will be done through open market purchases at the Philippine Stock Exchange, where ALI’s shares are listed.

A share buyback is when a company repurchases its shares that are currently held by the public. Companies often do it to preserve its share price or when it thinks its shares are undervalued.

ALI’s public float as of Friday was 54.63%, and its market capitalization was P624.86 billion. Its shares closed at P42.25 each, down 20 centavos or 0.47%.

Earnings of ALI in 2019 grew 13% to P33.2 billion, as revenues inched up 2% to P168.8 billion. — Denise A. Valdez