RCBC starts int’l roadshow for P10-B share offering

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) started yesterday its roadshow to key foreign cities to sell up to 250 million new common shares and in the process, raise about P10 billion in fresh capital.

RCBC officials, led by bank president Lorenzo V. Tan, will begin the roadshow in foreign financial centers such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London, New York, Boston, and San Francisco.

The roadshow will also covers local urban centers for domestic investors. RCBC officials will meet with over 100 equity fund management groups that have expressed interest in the sale.

"There seems to be an overwhelming interest on the public offering as most analysts see a clear upside working on RCBC’s favor," bank officials said.

Analysts said they expect RCBC’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio "to soften to four percent by 2009." Last year, the Yuchengco-led commercial bank sold P5-billion worth of non-performing assets (NPAs) through the special purpose vehicle (SPV) route and private auctions.

Citing that the prospects of the local banking industry is generally bright, analysts still pointed to a strong upside to RCBC’s share price despite the steep rise it has recorded in recent market trades.

"We see RCBC’s fair value to range between P43 to P49." From roughly P24 per share in January, RCBC shares have risen to as much as P43/share in recent market activity. It closed last Thursday at P41," the analysts noted.

During the roadshow, trading of RCBC shares listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will be suspended from March 16 to 28.

RCBC senior vice president Elbert M. Zosa said the offer price will be based on the volume weighted average price of the share at the PSE for a period ranging from 10 to 30 days ending on March 15 this year.

The public offering will consist of up to 173.9 million common shares, representing 80 percent of offer shares, to be offered and sold to international investors.

Another 43.5 million common shares, representing 20 percent of the offer shares, will be offered and sold to the PSE trading participants, while 32.6 million common shares have been set aside for over-allotment, having the same terms and conditions as the offer shares, "exercisable for 30 days in whole or on part from the listing date and trading of the offer shares."