MANILA, Nov 12 (PNA) — Oversubscription from various retail and institutional investors prompted Asia United Bank (AUB) to cut short the offer period of its unsecured subordinated Tier 2 notes qualifying as Basel 3-compliant capital.
Originally scheduled to run until November 16, the offer period will close on November 13. The Tier 2 Notes were priced near the low end of the initial pricing range at 5.625% p.a.
The issue date is set for November 25, 2015. The Notes have a maturity of 10 years, with a call option exercisable by the Bank after 5 years and 3 months.
BDO Capital and Investment Corporation and Deutsche Bank AG, Manila Branch acted as joint lead arrangers, joint book runners, and selling agents for the transaction. Multinational Investment Bancorporation was also designated as selling agent and market maker, while AUB acted as limited selling agent for the transaction.
Proceeds from the offering will be used to strengthen AUB’s capital base and its capital ad- equacy based on the requirements of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“Having a stronger capital base is important in supporting our ambition to become one of the top ten leading banks in the Philippines,” said AUB president Abraham T. Co.
AUB, which celebrated its 18th year with the theme “Redefined at 18,” is among the top 20 banks in the Philippines with an asset size of P141.1 billion as of September 30, 2015.
Increased lending activities and a widening nationwide presence enabled AUB and its subsidiaries to breach the Php3-billion mark in interest income in the first nine months of the year from the same period in 2014.
The AUB Group, composed of publicly listed universal bank AUB and two rural bank units, recorded a 43.8% surge in interest income on loans and receivables to Php3.4 billion for the period ended September 30, 2015 from Php2.4 billion a year ago.
This was driven by a 32.8% growth in the Group’s loans and receivables, which stood at Php86.4 billion versus Php65.1 billion a year ago. Corporate and consumer lending grew by 41.0% and 19.0%, respectively.
Continuing its strategy of reducing its trading portfolio and strengthening its core business, net interest income increased by 16.4% to Php3.5 billion during the period. However, income from trading and investment dropped by 27.0%.
Net income stood at Php1.2 billion, lower than year-ago’s Php1.6 billion, which got a boost from an extraordinary gain of P400 million from the sale of foreclosed assets.
As of the third quarter, the Group reached out to more customers by expanding its consoli- dated distribution network to 228 branches. Sustained deposit-generation campaigns boosted the Group’s total deposits to P95.2 billion, or 28.7% higher, year-on-year. (PNA)