METROPOLITAN Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) on Wednesday said it was looking to issue its first Asean sustainability peso-denominated fixed rate bonds via an offering worth at least P5 billion with an oversubscription option, a tenor of 1.5 years and subject to market conditions.
The planned issuance was said to have been approved by Metrobank President Fabian Dee on Tuesday under a bond and commercial issuances program of up P200 billion that was greenlit by the board in December 2021.
The bank said proceeds would be used to diversify its funding sources while supporting lending operations “and will be allocated by the bank to finance and/or refinance eligible assets as defined in the bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework.”
First Metro Investment Corp., ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch and Standard Chartered Bank have been tapped as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners.
The bank noted that it was rated Baa2 (Stable) by Moody’s and BBB- (Stable) by Fitch, reflecting its solid credit standing and capacity to meet obligations under the planned issuance.
Metrobank shares on Wednesday closed unchanged at P74.80 each.
