July 29, 2022Bank of Commerce (BankCom), the banking arm of San Miguel Corporation, successfully listed its maiden issuance of PHP7.5 billion 2-year Series A Bonds on the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx), with aggregate orderbook exceeding the original target issue size by more than three times. The strong demand prompted BankCom to increase its issue size from the original PHP3 billion to PHP 7.5 billion and end the offer period on July 12, 2022, ten days ahead of the original closing date. “The overwhelming response from both institutional and retail investors on our first ever Peso bond issuance underscores the market’s confidence in BankCom’s performance and our growth potential,” President and Chief Executive Officer Michelangelo R. Aguilar said. BankCom’s bond was offered on July 11, 2022 at a coupon rate of 5.0263% per annum due 2024. Minimum denominations were set for PHP100,000 and increments of PHP50,000 thereafter. The bonds were listed on July 29, 2022 in PDEx. The maiden issuance forms part of the Bank’s PHP20 billion Bond Programme. Proceeds from this issuance will be used to match long-term assets with long-term funding to reduce the Bank’s interest rate risk. “Diversifying our sources of funding will provide stability to propel loan growth in the corporate, SME and consumer sectors and effectively manage our net interest margin,” Aguilar added. As of March 31, 2022, BankCom’s Total Assets stood at PHP206.38 billion, up by 5.63% from PHP195.39 billion the previous March. During the same period, Loans and Receivables, which comprised the bulk, yielded a double-digit growth of 16.29% year-on-year from PHP72.81 billion in March 2021 to PHP84.67 billion as of March this year. Last month, BankCom was assigned an Issuer Credit Rating of PRS Aa plus (corp.), with a Stable Outlook, by Philippine Rating Services Corporation (PhilRatings). The said rating applies to a company having a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates. Coupled with “Stable Outlook,” this indicates that the Issuer’s rating is likely to continue in the next 12 months. “We thank the investors for their trust and recognition of BankCom’s creditworthiness, stability, and strong commitment to achieving our business plans and objectives,” Aguilar said. BankCom appointed ING Bank N.V., Manila Branch (ING) and Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc. (PCCI) as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners for this issuance. BankCom also acted as a Selling Agent for the offering, together with ING and PCCI. The Bonds are exempt from registration under Section 9.1(e) of the Securities Regulation Code and have not been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. About BankCom Bank of Commerce traces its origins to the Overseas Bank of Manila, established in Binondo, Manila in 1963. In December 2020, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) granted the copyright license for “BankCom” as the Bank’s official short name. An affiliate of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), BankCom has been recently licensed as a universal bank (subject to certain regulatory requirements) by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to provide a wide range of financial products and services: deposits, cash management/solutions, payments, lending, asset management, bancassurance, investment banking, foreign exchange and securities trading. The Bank has a network of 140 branches and aims to deploy more automated teller machines (ATMs) in addition to the 253 count at end March 2022.