Philippine corporate bond issuance may hit P400B in 2022

August 26, 2022 - 3:02 PM
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1000 cash
This undated file photo shows one thousand peso bills. (The STAR/Walter Bollozos/File Photo)

 Philippine companies are seen raising a record 400 billion pesos ($7.14 billion) through bond issuances this year to fund expansion plans and retire debts, the country’s bond market operator said on Friday.

Year-to-date, companies have raised 371 billion pesos via bonds, with a robust pipeline in the coming months. Bond listings on the PDEX fell by nearly half to 213 billion last year from a record high of 387 billion in 2020.

“If last year was a year of caution, this year, the firms are back for funding,” Antonino Nakpil, president and CEO of Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp (PDEX), told Reuters.

Top issuers include banks and property firms, and conglomerates. In July, San Miguel Corp SMC.PS raised 30 billion pesos, the largest domestic bond deal by a non-banking institution.

Philippine companies, backed by financial markets despite higher lending rates, are pursuing expansion plans this year, banking on an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Companies are taking advantage of market liquidity to fund expansion and pay down debts, Nakpil said. On Friday, property firm Robinsons Land Corp RLC.PS listed 15 billion pesos in a bond deal oversubscribed by 12 times.

To date, there are 54 companies that have a combined 193 bond issues in the Philippines’ fixed income trading platform.

($1 = 56.0350 Philippine pesos)

—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor