Ayala Land sets bond offer

MANILA, Philippines — The listed property arm of conglomerate Ayala Corp. announced Wednesday plans to raise P6.25 billion through debt, adding an offer to current bond holders to swap their securities so they can participate in the fresh offering.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Ayala Land Inc. said investors holding outstanding principal amounts of the company's bonds due on Oct. 10, 2020 may "fully or partially" exchange the securities for the new five-year fixed-rate bonds.

Under Ayala Land's exchange offer, holders of existing debt papers will receive the accrued interest — net of applicable taxes — in cash before the sale of new debt papers, which is scheduled before the maturity of the October 2020 notes. The October bonds fetched a rate of 4.63% per year.

The new offering represents the fifth tranche of Ayala Land's plan to raise a total of P50 billion worth of debt under a shelf registration approved in April last year by the Securities and Exchanged Commission.

The company hired BDO Capital & Investment Corporation, BPI Capital Corporation, China Bank Capital Corporation, First Metro Investment Corporation and SB Capital Investment Corporation as joint lead underwriters and bookrunners to manage the new round of bonds sale.

Last April, Ayala Land said it was spending P69.8 billion for capital expenditures this year, about 37% lower from its previous plan of P110 billion as the coronavirus pandemic weighs on its business.

In the first half, the company reported a 70% year-on-year decline in earnings to P4.5 billion as a single-digit uptick in office leasing revenues fails to cushion a drop in revenues of its shopping centers, hotels, resorts and residential properties.

On Wednesday, shares in Ayala Land closed at P31.85 apiece, down 3.04%.