BDO raises $500M from dollar bonds

BDO UNIBANK, Inc. has raised $500 million from its sale of five-year dollar-denominated bonds that marked its return to the offshore debt market after over three years as it saw strong demand, it said on Wednesday.

The offering was more than 3.2 times oversubscribed, with tenders for the fixed-rate senior notes reaching about $1.6 billion, the Sy-led bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

This followed a series of investor calls that started on Monday.

The notes were priced at a coupon rate of 4.375%, and the transaction is scheduled to be settled on Dec. 3.

They will be issued out of BDO’s medium-term note program.

“The Senior Notes issue is part of BDO’s liability management initiatives to tap longer-term funding sources to support BDO’s lending operations and for general corporate purposes,” the bank said.

BDO said the notes are expected to be rated “Baa2” by Moody’s Ratings, which matches its issuer rating.

Standard Chartered Bank was the sole global coordinator for the transaction. It also acted as a joint bookrunner and joint lead manager along with MUFG and Wells Fargo Securities.

BDO tapped the offshore debt market in May 2022, raising $100 million from the issuance of seven-year blue bonds through an investment from the International Finance Corp. This marked the first private sector blue bond issuance in Southeast Asia.

The bank’s attributable net income rose 6.1% year on year to P22.47 billion in the third quarter, bringing its nine-month profit to P63.09 billion, 4.07% higher than a year earlier.

BDO shares rose by P1.80 or 1.39% to close at P131.50 apiece on Wednesday. — Aaron Michael C. Sy