Singapore’s GIC hikes stake in BPI to above 5%

MANILA, Philippines — GIC Private Ltd. of Singapore raised its stake in Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) to slightly above five percent through a series of transactions at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) over the past two months.

In a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the state-owned Singaporean company disclosed that it now owns more than five percent of the country’s fourth largest bank in terms of assets.

“The aggregate number of common shares is the registrant beneficially owned by GIC is 225.15 million shares which represent 5.0001 percent of the common shares issued by the registrant,” BPI said in the disclosure.

As of end-2017, GIC had a 4.4 percent stake in BPI. The Ayala Group is the single biggest shareholder of the 167-year old bank with 48.2 percent, while the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila has an 8.3 percent interest. Public float stood at 39.1 percent in end 2017.

The Singaporean firm acquired 6.08 million shares of BPI valued at P514.37 million in Oct. 8 and Nov. 29, but also sold 1.61 million shares worth P138.55 million.

GIC, wholly owned by the government of Singapore, is one of the world’s largest global investors with well over $100 billion of assets in more than 40 countries worldwide.

It was established as a fund manager with the sole purpose of managing Singapore’s foreign reserves.

In May last year, GIC acquired a direct stake in BPI after receiving 45.63 million shares from Arran Investment Pte Ltd. Despite the transfer, Arran and GIC Special Investments Private Ltd. retained 173.66 million shares of BPI equivalent to a 4.41 percent stake in the listed bank.

DBS Bank Ltd of Singapore completed the divestment of its entire stake in BPI in November 2013 ending its 14-year investments in the bank. It sold its remaining 9.9 percent interest in BPI to conglomerate Ayala Corp. and GIC for P29.6 billion.

Ayala acquired the 5.6 percent interest in Ayala DBS Holdings while GIC bought the other 4.3 percent stake. The transaction raised the interest of Ayala in BPI to 48.3 percent from 44 percent.

BPI president and chief executive officer Cesar Consing had said the listed bank expects to sustain a double-digit or in the “teens” lending growth next year with the sustained economic growth.

“We are still trying to figure that out. I’d say it will obviously be in the teens especially if the economy continues to grow the way it has been growing. It may not be the same pace in the last four or five years but it will still be healthy growth,” Consing said.

The loan portfolio of the 167-year old bank grew 12.9 percent to P1.27 trillion from January to September this year.

“I actually think 2019 could be a better year for the economy because if you look at 2018 we were faced with high oil prices and high food prices and so that raised inflation. The central bank responded to that by raising rates,” he added.