January 30, 2020 | 12:01 am [ bworwldonline.com ]
THE maiden offering of ASEAN green bonds by niche property developer Arthaland Corp. has been oversubscribed to reach P3 billion.
In a stock exchange disclosure yesterday, the listed firm said the P1-billion oversubscription option of its P2-billion green bonds “has been exercised in full,” which means the company was able to raise P3 billion from the first tranche of its total shelf registration of P6-billion ASEAN green bonds.
Arthaland started its offer period for the fixed-rate bonds on Jan. 22, which ended on Jan. 28. The bonds have an interest rate of 6.3517% per annum and are scheduled to mature by 2025.
BDO Capital and Investment Corp. and ING Bank acted as the joint lead underwriters and joint bookrunners, while PNB Capital and Investment Corp. acted as the co-lead manager for the issuance.
The offer of Arthaland marks the Philippines’ first non-bank corporate issuance of ASEAN green bonds registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Green bonds, also called climate bonds, are a type of loan that are committed to be used for environmental projects. The SEC adopted the ASEAN green bond standard for the Philippines, which requires that proceeds from such issuances must be “exclusively applied to finance or refinance, in part or in full, new and/or existing eligible green projects.”
Arthaland said before that the cash to be generated from its green bond offer will be used to finance its pipeline of green projects. The company has several internationally and locally recognized green buildings in its portfolio, such as the Arthaland Century Pacific Tower and Arya Residences in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
The company has a plan to expand its development portfolio by five times until 2024, which will result in an increase in its gross floor area to above 500,000 square meters.
Earnings of Arthaland in the first nine months of 2019 soared to P647.36 million from P75.64 million a year ago, driven by the 151% growth in its revenues to P1.49 billion.
Its shares at the stock exchange inched up one centavo or 1.23% to P0.82 apiece on Wednesday. — Denise A. Valdez
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