MANILA— Philippine companies are seen raising a record 400 billion pesos ($7.14 billion) through bond issuances this year to fund expansion plans and retire debts, the country’s bond market operator said on Friday.
Year-to-date, companies have raised 371 billion pesos via bonds, with a robust pipeline in the coming months. Bond listings on the PDEX fell by nearly half to 213 billion last year from a record high of 387 billion in 2020.
“If last year was a year of caution, this year, the firms are back for funding,” Antonino Nakpil, president and CEO of Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp (PDEX), told Reuters.
Top issuers include banks and property firms, and conglomerates. In July, San Miguel Corp SMC.PS raised 30 billion pesos, the largest domestic bond deal by a non-banking institution.
Philippine companies, backed by financial markets despite higher lending rates, are pursuing expansion plans this year, banking on an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies are taking advantage of market liquidity to fund expansion and pay down debts, Nakpil said. On Friday, property firm Robinsons Land Corp RLC.PS listed 15 billion pesos in a bond deal oversubscribed by 12 times.
To date, there are 54 companies that have a combined 193 bond issues in the Philippines’ fixed income trading platform.
($1 = 56.0350 Philippine pesos)
—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor
