Ayala Land eyes P21B bond offer

PROPERTY giant Ayala Land Inc. plans to offer as much as P21 billion in long-term domestic retail bonds, raising fresh funds for “general corporate purposes,” the company said.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on yesterday, ALI said its board had approved the issuance of such corporate bonds which would be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposed bonds will have a tenor of 7, 10, 20 or 25 years.

Registered

The bonds will be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and sold through a general public offering, the disclosure said.

ALI also disclosed that its board had approved the incorporation of a wholly owned subsidiary, Verde Golf Development Corp., which will oversee the operations of Southvale Golf Course.

The property giant has budgeted P65.7 billion for capital spending this year, of which P10.3 billion was disbursed in the first quarter for residential development, land acquisition, shopping centers, hotels and resorts, office property development and other land development activities.

Peso bonds

Last Tuesday, the Philippine government  also planned to issue inflation-linked peso bonds to fund part of its deficit this year, taking advantage of the slow rise in consumer prices to secure cheap funding.

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said the Philippines might join neighbors like Thailand and South Korea, which have both issued inflation-link bonds. “It’s an option for funding, (but) we’re still doing legwork,” De Leon said.

Inflation-linked bonds eliminate the risk of inflation eating up the returns of a particular issuance, making them more attractive to investors./inquirer.net