RCBC triples green bond issue to P15 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Yuchengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) has tripled its green bond offering to P15 billion due to strong demand particularly from institutional investors.

Horacio Cebrero, senior executive vice president and treasurer at RCBC, said strong demand has prompted the listed bank to upsize the offering of the first peso ASEAN Green Bond from the original size of P5 billion.

“The bank is grateful for the overwhelming support from its institutional investors, with the books being more than three times oversubscribed from its announced issue size of P5 billion, allowing an issue size of P15 billion,” Cebrero said.

Cebrero said offer period would commence on Jan. 21 and end on Jan. 25 and would be listed at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) platform on Feb. 1.

The RCBC ASEAN Green Bond, with a tenor of 1.5 years, was priced at a coupon of 6.7315 percent per annum.

The net proceeds of the issue would be used to finance and refinance RCBC’s loans to customers or its own operating activities in green eligible categories including renewable energy, green buildings, clean transportation, energy efficiency as well as pollution prevention and control.

“The proceeds from the issuance will be used to support the bank’s expansion and initiatives in the green space,” the bank treasurer said.

RCBC has mandated the HSBC and ING Bank - Manila branch to arrange the issuance, while ING was mandated as the sole green structuring advisor for RCBC’s green finance framework.

RCBC president and chief executive officer Gil Buenaventura earlier said the planned issuance is the first green bond from the Philippines issued under the ASEAN Green Bond Standards 2018.

The bond will be aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s Green Bond Principles 2018.

“With this first in the country initiative, RCBC affirms its commitment to support environmental sustainability in the Philippines through our operations, our partners and the businesses we serve,” Buenaventura said.

According to Buenaventura, the bank believes that balancing non-financial factors such as environmental and social issues with financial priorities is essential to good corporate citizenship and is fundamental to risk management and the protection of its investors and shareholders.