Posted on
June 19, 2013 10:30:46 PM
By Cliff
Harvey C. Venzon, Reporter
AYALA LAND,
Inc. is looking to raise P21 billion in a bond offering to bankroll general
corporate expenses, the company said in a disclosure yesterday.
“Please be
informed that, at its regular meeting held this afternoon, our board of
directors approved the following: the issuance of up to P21 billion in
corporate notes,” the disclosure stated.
The bond
issuance, which has yet to be approved by the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), will have tenors of seven, 10 and 20, or 25 years, it added.
“Proceeds,
net of issue-related costs, will be used for general corporate purposes,” it
said. “The bonds will be sold through general public offering.”
Ayala Land
Chief Financial Officer Jaime E. Ysmael said the bonds will be offered when the
company bags regulatory approval.
“We will seek
SEC approval of our planned bond issuance so the issue date is projected
sometime in the third quarter,” Mr. Ysmael said in a text message yesterday.
“The bonds
will be issued in one tranche but will have multiple tenors as we intend to
manage the maturity profile of debt,” he added.
The bond
offering will mark another fund-raising effort of the property arm of
conglomerate Ayala Corp.
Ayala Land in
March raised P12.2 billion from a share placement to bankroll the completion of
its projects.
Meanwhile,
other firms that have tapped the bond market this year include GT Capital
Holdings, Inc., which raised P10 billion in February and San Miguel Corp.,
which raised $800 million after offering offshore bonds in April.
In the same
disclosure, Ayala Land said it has incorporated Verde Gold Development Corp.,
which will oversee the operations of Southvale Golf Course project in Cavite.
Ayala Land’s
net income grew by 20.83% to P3.19 billion in the first quarter from P2.64
billion in the same period last year as revenues climbed by 39.35% to P18.52
billion from P13.29 billion.
The company
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.
Shares of
Ayala Land dropped by 70 centavos or 2.30% to P29.70 per share yesterday from
P30.40 on Tuesday.
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