Friday, November 20, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
The bond sale of Andrew L. Tan-led property firm Megaworld Corp. received a warm response from the investing public, with the debt market remaining robust at the expense of equities.
In a disclosure yesterday, Megaworld said its P5-billion fixed-rate bond was 2.4 times oversubscribed. The bonds had been assigned a “AAA” rating by the Credit Rating and Investors Services Philippines, Inc., which reflects the company’s “strong capacity to repay debt obligations.”
BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. acted as joint lead managers, underwriters and bookrunners for the bond offering.
Proceeds from the issue will be used to fund the development of the proposed 8.38-hectare North Bonifacio Central District in Taguig’s Fort Bonifacio, which Megaworld bought from the government last September.
BDO Capital President Ed Francisco said things continue to look well for the bond market.
The P12-billion bond offering of Energy Development Corp. for instance is already oversubscribed even before its closing next week.
“There is a lot of money circulating in the market especially now that remittances continue to go up,” Mr. Francisco said.
Megaworld posted a net income of P3 billion from January to September, up by 5% from the same period last year, with growth coming mostly from the continued strength of real estate sales and rental income.
Megaworld is one of the largest residential condominium developers and operators of buildings for business process outsourcing firms in the Philippines.
It claims to have pioneered the development of community townships that fit a “live-work-play-learn” mold.
Megaworld has five townships within Metro Manila, as well as stand-alone projects in the Makati central business district.
It recently entered into a joint-venture agreement with the state-led Bases Conversion Development Authority for the 8.38-hectare North Bonifacio property.
Megaworld has committed to invest at least P15.6 billion over the next 20 years to develop North Bonifacio, located in the northern district of Fort Bonifacio and extending all the way to Kalayaan Avenue.
Shares in the listed property firm fell by 2.53% or P0.04 to P1.54 apiece yesterday. -- K. J. R. Liu
____________________________________________________________________________________
