ALI raises P7 B bonds

MANILA, Philippines -  Property giant Ayala Land Inc. raised P7 billion via the issuance of fixed rate bonds, beefing up its war chest for continued growth.

The company listed the bonds due 2027 on the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), last week.

ALI, the most active corporate issuer for 2016, now has total outstanding listed issues of P83 billion or 12 percent of the outstanding listed bonds on the country’s fixed income exchange.

The overall Ayala Group’s total outstanding listed issues, meanwhile, is now at P145 billion or 21 percent of the overall outstanding listed bonds on PDEx.

ALI CFO and group treasurer Augusto Bengzon led the ringing of the ceremonial bell to herald the start of trading of the bonds due 2027 in the PDEx bourse.  

For PDEx, ALI’s listing is the 10th for the year, bringing the year-to-date total volume of new listings to P73.04 billion, 275 percent higher than the same period last year.

The total level of tradable corporate debt instruments in PDEx now stands at P679.67 billion issued by 43 companies.

The company is launching P117 billion worth of projects this year, including three sprawling mixed-used estates.

This is higher than the P87 billion worth of projects the company launched last year, as the company remains optimistic on the prospects for the property sector amid low mortgage rates, strong dollar remittances from overseas Filipinos and the growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. 

ALI  would spend P100 billion to beef up its residential portfolio while the balance of P17 billion would be for additional estates and commercial assets.

The three estates, that would bring Ayala Land’s estate portfolio to a total of 23, include the Evo City a 250-hectare estate in Kawit, Cavite; Azuela Cove,a  25-hectare estate in Davao City and the 35-hectare joint venture project with the LT Group, the holding company of taipan Lucio Tan along the C5 corridor in Pasig.

It is pouring in P88 billion in capital expenditures this year, higher than the P85 billion spent last year.