Metro Retail pays off P200.5M DBP loan from IPO proceeds

CEBU, Philippines - Listed Metro Retail Stores Group spent another P200.5 million from the proceeds of its initial public offering (IPO) to pay off its short-term loan with Development Bank of the Philippines.

 Metro Retail disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that it borrowed P200 million from DBP with an interest of P490,000

 The Cebu-based retail giant had previously disclosed that it also paid off its short-term loans with Land Bank of the Philippines worth P402.7 million and Bank of the Philippine Islands worth P150.38 million, using its IPO proceeds.

 The company, the retail arm of the Gaisano's Vicsal Development Corp., debuted on the stock market in November last year.

The Gaisano-led retailer raised as much as P3.6 billion from its maiden share sale.

Last month, it said in a disclosure that it had already utilized P200 million from the proceeds as working capital requirements.

Shares of Metro closed at P3.37 per share on Monday. — (FREEMAN)