Ayala Land chief executive details 2023 fundraising plans

AYALA Land Inc. plans to offer bonds next month and secure bank loans in an attempt to raise about 60 billion pesos this year for projects and debt repayments.

Augusto Bengzon, Ayala Land’s CFO, Treasurer and Chief Executive Officer, told reporters last Thursday that the developer is considering a bond issue worth between 20 billion and 22 billion pesos.

“[T]he said the amount would be raised through a bond offering to raise capital. We are currently negotiating with seven lead underwriters,” said Bengzon.

“We also plan to launch it sometime early next month, with pricing and listing between April and mid-May,” he added.

The offer will be divided into five-year and 10-year bonds, the placement size has not yet been determined.

“In terms of market appetite, credit spreads look very attractive as we see credit spreads of 25 to 40 basis points for five years and 30 to 50 basis points for 10 years,” Bengzon said.

“Based on a five- and 10-year benchmark, we are looking at coupon rates of 6.2 to 6.9 percent for five- and 10-year bonds.”

Ayala Land expects to raise about 60 billion pesos this year, Bengzon said. As for the remaining 40 billion pesos, negotiations are underway with the banks.

“As for the 40 billion pesos, we are negotiating with creditor banks and we have already closed a 10-year credit line for 5 billion pesos,” he said.

“It will be valued at either a five-year price or a 10-year flat rate and will most likely have a term of seven to ten years,” he added.

“This is actually a good window for us as it is a good time for us to have long-term fixed rate debt and we are following our maturity allocation rule so as not to have any excessive amount that might be required. refinancing”.

Ayala Land’s share price fell 15 centavos, or 0.53 percent, to 28.05 pesos on Thursday. Meanwhile, the underlying index of the Philippine Stock Exchange fell 0.20%.

The country’s financial markets were closed on Friday due to the holiday.