Sta. Lucia sets rates for maiden bond issue

MANILA, Philippines - Sta. Lucia Land Inc. has set the interest rates for its peso-denominated bonds amounting to up to P5 billion.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Sta. Lucia said the three-year bonds carry an interest of 6.7284 percent per annum while the 5.25 year bonds have an interest rate of 6.715 percent per annum.

Sta. Lucia plans to issue P3 billion worth of unsecured fixed-rate bonds, with an oversubscription option of up to P2 billion bonds or a total of P5 billion.

 “This marks the maiden debt capital market transaction of Sta. Lucia, one of the leading property development companies in the Philippines,” the company said.

The bond issuance was assigned an AA+ rating by local debt watcher Credit Rating and Investor Services Philippines Inc.

Sta. Lucia has tapped China Banking Corp. as issue manager and lead underwriter for the issue.

Proceeds from the issuance would be used for general corporate purposes, capital expenditures and refinancing of existing secured loans.

Sta. Lucia is a majority-held company of the Sta. Lucia Realty Group that was incorporated in 1972. Together, the two companies have a combined 40-year track record that created a footprint in 10 major regions and cities in the country as they developed over 10,000 hectares of land and more than 220 residential subdivisions.

Through the years, Sta. Lucia added 14 golf courses in its portfolio with world-class championship courses.

According to CRISP, Sta. Lucia has operated mostly from internally generated funds and has only tapped banks for its direct borrowings for just over P3 billion as against its assets of P17.8 billion and total equity of P11.7 billion.