PROPERTY developer SM Prime Holdings, Inc. has set the interest rate of its retail bonds due on 2023 at 2.4565%, while those due on 2026 at 3.8547%, it said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The peso-denominated 2.5-year series M and the five-year series N retail bonds will be offered to investors from Jan. 25 to 29, after receiving the necessary permit from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They will be issued on Feb. 5.

SM Prime is issuing an aggregate principal amount of P5 billion for the two bonds with an oversubscription option of an additional P5 billion.

“The proceeds of the retail bonds will allow SM Prime to continue its expansion plans in its core business, which will further drive the company’s growth,” SM Prime Chief Finance Officer John Nai Peng C. Ong was quoted as saying.

According to SM Prime, the proposed issuance is the second drawdown from its P100-billion debt securities program under shelf registration with the SEC.

The company said Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings) had given a rating of “PRS Aaa” for its series M and N retail bonds.

The rating is the highest assigned by PhilRatings and is given to long-term debt securities that have the smallest investment risk.

BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and China Bank Capital Corp. are the joint issue managers for SM Prime’s bonds. The two companies also join BPI Capital, First Metro Investment Corp., and SB Capital Investment Corp. as joint lead underwriters for the issuance.

As of September 2020, SM Prime posted a 48% decline in its consolidated net income to P14.4 billion. The company’s consolidated revenues fell 29% to P60.7 billion.

On Tuesday, shares in SM Prime at the stock exchange fell 1.31% or 50 centavos to close at P37.70 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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