Posted on May
10, 2013 08:10:40 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
PROPERTY
GIANT Ayala Land, Inc. rolled out on Friday the sixth series of Homestarter
Bonds, an interest-earning financial instrument, in a bid to attract more home
buyers.
“We are very
pleased to offer yet another series of the Homestarter Bonds driven by a goal
to give more people innovative options that could fast-track their purchase of
an Ayala Land property. Since we issued the bonds, it has generated close to
one billion pesos in total sales for Ayala Land which is a positive indication
that people are encouraged to save through the program,” Bernard Vincent O. Dy,
Ayala Land executive vice-president and chief operating officer, said in a
statement Friday.
Th bond
offer, which has an interest rate of 4.0% per annum, marked the sixth
Homestarter Bonds series since Ayala Land launched the first series in Oct.
2009, beginning with a P504-million issuance with a three-year tenor ending
2012 and an interest rate of 5% per annum.
Upon the
bonds’ expected maturity on May 31, 2016, bondholders will have the option to
apply the principal as full or partial down payment for a purchase of an Ayala
Land property, or simply have the principal amount remitted to a designated
account.
In a briefing
at Holiday Inn & Suites Makati on Friday, Augusto D. Bengzon, Ayala Land
vice-president and corporate treasurer, noted that the bonds are being offered
from May 8 to 24 with a targeted issue date of May 31. Th issuance has been
approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
As with Ayala
Land’s Homestarter Bonds issued last year, the sixth series will require a lump
sum, minimum of a P50,000.00 investment, as opposed to monthly payouts, he
said.
“Instead of
paying every month, you do a lump sum payment, which will mature in three
years. The reason for that is that it [the Homestarter Bonds] is not a
fundraising activity for Ayala Land; this is a tool for our potential buyers,”
Mr. Bengzon said.
“We don’t
want to open this up to financial investors; we want to limit this to investors
who are contemplating the actual purchase of an Ayala Land property,” he added.
BPI Capital
Corp., China Banking Corp., and PNB Capital and Investment Corp. will act as
joint underwriters for the Homestarter Bonds issue.
“Strong
mortgage banks support them. We see a natural fit for these underwriters to
sell the bonds,” Mr. Bengzon said at the briefing.
Ayala Land
was organized in 1988 when parent Ayala Corp. decided to spin off its real
estate division into an independent subsidiary to enhance management focus on
real estate.
The listed
developer has earmarked P65.5 billion for capital expenditures this year-P46
billion for project completion and roughly P20 billion for land banking-to
bankroll the construction of about 69 property projects valued collectively at
P129 billion.
Ayala Land
grew its net income for the three-month period ended March by 30% to P2.76
billion from P2.13 billion in the same period last year on the strong
performance of all the firm’s business units.
Consolidated
revenues climbed by 38% to P18.53 billion from P13.39 billion, while total
expenses rose by 43% to P14.07 billion versus P9.84 billion.
Shares of
Ayala Land -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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